Confessions of a Teenage Hero
by Quillified
Summary: Aang Gyatso may have defeated Ozai's plot, but his troubles are far from over. Evil spirits are targeting his friends, and it'll take an Avatar to save the day. Modern AU.
1. Prologue

Confessions of a Teenage Hero  
>An Avatar Tale<p>

* * *

><p><em>Prologue<em>

Hi. I'm Aang. Aang Gyatso, actually. Y'know, that one kid that's always hanging around the fountain outside of school, performing crazy tricks only an airbender can?

Oh, and pretty much the _last_ airbender left in the state, _and _some ancient hero called the Avatar on top of that?

Yeah.

Not that I'm complaining. There are some perks to being one of a kind. For instance: I lose control, I can chalk it all up to ancient spirits of power just cutting loose. Not that it happens often; I'm not that kind of guy. I'm real laid back. Easy-going, you know? Oh, and the girls go wild for a guy who'll achieve ultimate power later in life.

Well, every girl, that is, except for one. My best friend, Katara. Well, two, if you include my other bestie and earthbending teacher, Toph, but let's focus on Katara. She's a year older than me, really pretty, best waterbender in the world, beautiful, nice, sweet, attractive, and gorgeous. Did I mention how good-looking she is?

Oh, one more thing: she's dating Zuko.

Yeah. _Prince_ Zuko, heir to some big corporation. Well, _the _big corporation: Ozai Industries, the biggest producer of anything to do with everything, but mostly weapons of mass destruction. Tanks, bombs, missiles, you name it, they make it. He's totally the Tony Stark of our world, old Ozai. He's a pretty big jerkwad, and his daughter Azula's not much better. She's a nutcase, or was, before the big family fight a couple of months ago. I hear she's about to get out of rehab, or wherever they send people who have mental breakdowns.

Oh, but Zuko's cool. He hated me for about a year, but we're friends now. Actually, becoming friends with me is how he met Katara, so I guess I should hate him, but he's a great guy. Besides, he makes Katara happy. Who am I to mess that up when all I want is for her to be happy?

Anyway, Katara's brother Sokka is also one of my really good friends. He's a year older than Katara, and is pretty smart when it comes to sciency stuff and strategy. He's probably the third most popular guy in school after me and Zuko, and captain of the football team. He doesn't really like anyone that comes from Zuko's part of town, which is understandable; Zuko comes from the West Side, which everyone knows is the richest, snootiest, baddest part of town. I mean, it totally pushed out all the subdivisions where my kind of people are — the other airbenders, I mean. Where a airbender street used to be, there's just a big shopping strip belonging to some branch of Ozai Incorporated. Just makes me sick every time I pass by one.

Oh, remember Toph, the girl I mentioned earlier? Yeah, she's not too shabby, either. Her parents have a fortune that's right up there with the West Side, but she's a rebel. She dresses in ripped-up — sorry, "distressed" — clothes and listens to her music way too loud and is pretty much obnoxious and speaks her mind wherever she is. Oh, one more thing: she's blind. It's okay, though — her earthbending helps her see just fine. She's a pretty tough teacher, nothing like how Katara was with waterbending. She's got a massive crush on Sokka, who's her best friend, but he has no idea, mostly because of his girlfriend, Suki. Suki's nice, and captain of the cheerleading squad, and a whole bunch of other good stuff, but you just gotta feel for Toph. I mean, I do — I know what she's going through. It sucks. But she puts on a good front, so it's all good.

Let's see…Haru, there's another person you'd need to know. Haru is the future male model of America, and the only guy in our school who every girl has wanted to date at some point (except for Toph, but she's weird like that. I mean, she likes _Sokka_). He's tied down, too — dating Ty Lee, a really preppy girl on the gymnastics team who can bend herself into shapes that are hard even for me, and I'm a flexible guy. She's friends with Mai, a really moody and depressed-looking girl who's into knives and stuff. They were both Azula's friends before her breakdown; they broke it off with her because she was being more of a nutjob than usual, and that's what they think pushed her over the edge. Well, some other stuff helped, but we're not going into that.

Teo's the only crippled guy we have here, but he's like Toph: he doesn't let his disability get him down. He's always on the go, wheeling himself everywhere around campus. The only group you'd really have to watch out for is the Freedom Fighters, a kind of kid vigilante gang run by Jet, Katara's ex. They're like an unofficial Student Government Association, and the teachers don't mind them unless they start destroying property in the name of justice or whatever. They're okay, though; mostly they just spread anti-West Side and anti-Ozai Inc. propaganda. It got pretty big at one point, but it's down to a manageable number now. Smellerbee and Longshot are Jet's number two and three; Smellerbee's the girl, and is a bigger tomboy than Toph, Longshot's the guy, and he's on the archery squad. Well, he _is_the archery squad — he's so good, they hardly need anyone else on it. The Duke's a genius with math and stuff, so he skipped a couple of grades, and his best friend is Pipsqueak, the biggest guy on the wrestling team and pretty much the biggest guy in school. Sokka would kill to have him on the football team, but Pipsqueak likes wrestling better. He keeps The Duke in line with some of his science projects, because he likes to experiment with blowing stuff up.

Well, now that you know your way around Four Nations High, I guess I should tell you that some weird stuff's been going down lately. I dunno, it's like…well…it's kind of like the Spirit World and the real world are starting to mesh together. I would know — I'm the Avatar, after all, the bridge between this world and the next. Some people who died a while ago aren't staying dead, and some old guardian spirits are getting a little restless. One went on the rampage and kidnapped Sokka for a couple of hours, and we almost didn't get him back. I don't know what's going on, but you can bet I'm going to get to the bottom of it, and together me and my friends are going to stop it and save the world.

If it doesn't explode first, that is.

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><p>AN: Hey, y'all. This is a fic I recently finished and felt like fixing up and posting here. In case you couldn't tell, this is a modern-day take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, and I think it'll be a good journey. Plus I felt ashamed for not having an Avatar fic posted; I LOVE AVATAR WITH A FIERY BURNING PASSION. SO MUCH LOVE. SO. MUCH. LOVE. OH PS Zutara fans, don't get comfy, it won't last, but feel free to read the story anyway to see if you like it. Kataang and Maiko fans, stick around. Tokka fans, you came to the right place.

Dont' be alarmed; my PPG fics aren't being abandoned. This is already finished, technically and after all, so y'all have nothing to worry about. This is just something to bring my pageviews up. ;)

Review and let me know how y'all like it, because this is going to be a most excellent adventure. Party on, dudes.


	2. Chapter 1: Aang

Chapter One

_Four Nations High School Chatroom_

**_waterbabe6 _**_has signed on_

**_. water . earth . fire . AIR ._** _has signed on_

**_boomeranghotty_** _has signed on_

**_earth_chick_no1_** _has signed on_

_waterbabe6_ Everyone on?

_. water . earth . fire . AIR ._ Yeah. can you believe this?

_boomeranghotty_ i no. its so stupid

_earth_chick_no1_ i wonder if tehy thought abut poor BLIND people wehn they thuoght of making it a major GRADE.

_boomeranghotty_ how r u readin this

_earth_chick_no1_ teh computer is reading it 2 me and im typin it in braille

_boomeranghotty_ ur computer can do that?

_earth_chick_no1_ yah nice u.n., btw

_waterbabe6_ Anyway…is everyone excited for today? First day of school after the holidays, after all.

_. water . earth . fire . AIR ._ not rly. kinda lame, going back after vacation.

__banished_fire_prince___has signed on_

__banished_fire_prince__ hey guys. wat up?

_earth_chick_no1_ hey sparky

_boomeranghotty_ sup

_waterbabe6_ Hi.

_. water . earth . fire . AIR ._ yo

__banished_fire_prince__ Party at my uncle's after school. U comin?

_waterbabe6_ Yes!

_boomeranghotty_ football's over im there!11!1

_. water . earth . fire . AIR ._ yeah

_earth_chick_no1_ u and sugarqueen gonna make out again?

_waterbabe6_ :(

__banished_fire_prince__ NO

__banished_fire_prince__ Only when ur not there.

_waterbabe6_ lol

_boomeranghotty_ gross that's my sister dude

__banished_fire_prince__ Sorry

_. water . earth . fire . AIR ._ got 2 go. school.

**_. water . earth . fire . AIR ._** _has signed off_

_boomeranghotty_ c u by the entrince, toff?

_earth_chick_no1_ yah

**_boomeranghotty_** _has signed off_

**_earth_chick_no1_** _has signed off_

_waterbabe6_ I love you.

**__banished_fire_prince__** _has signed off_

**_waterbabe6_** _has signed off_

Aang's Playlist

Song: _Never Say Never_

Artist: _The Fray_

I turned off my computer and grabbed my bag, slinging it over my shoulder and pulling on my blue arrow-adorned beanie over my hair. On my way out the door Momo hopped onto my shoulder, tugging my ear.

"Not today, buddy," I grinned, and he leapt off, chattering and disgruntled. "This weekend."

I grabbed my keys and locked the door behind me, airgliding down three flights of stairs to the parking lot. My old Volkswagen minivan, nicknamed Appa, lay under a thick sheet of frost. I rolled my eyes, waterbending the stuff off and getting in. The outside paint job was cream, with a rust stripe right down the middle, almost like an arrow. The interior was definitely a product of the seventies, all white shag. Appa groaned to life as I turned the key in the ignition and switched gears, rumbling out of the parking lot.

Four Nations High soon came into view under the sparkling January sun, its four-color logo unusually bright this morning. My eyes lingered on the yellow airbender quadrant, and I snorted. There were hardly any of us left anymore; why bother trying to pretend it was Four anymore?

But now was not the time for that. I turned into the parking lot of the school, turned Appa off, and got out to wait by the auditorium entrance.

Toph was the first to show, being dropped off by her nanny. Her clothing choice was exceptionally Tophish today, I noticed, amused. Her worn-out army-green khaki jacket, a permanent fixture of Toph fashion, covered a painfully bright green-and-black-checked flannel shirt. Over the shirt, which reached her knees like a dress, she was wearing the enormous black, green, and gold belt she'd won in one of the Earth Rumble competitions a few years ago (the day I met her, actually). Grungy dark skinny jeans extended down to where her metal-studded, neon green flats poked out, and I knew full well the bottom of the shoes had been kicked out so she could see. She navigated the parking lot easily, and as a greeting buried me up to my ankles in dirt.

"Morning, Twinkletoes," she said pleasantly as I extracted myself from the earth. "Snoozles and Her Sweetness here yet?"

"Nope," I shook my head. "Here comes Zuko, though."

The former heir in question pulled up as I spoke in his cherry-red Camaro. His hair was tousled carelessly, as it usually was, but he looked more harried than usual.

"Seen Katara?" he asked as way of greeting. I shook my head, and Toph snickered as Zuko hurried into the school.

"iSomebody/i doesn't want to be found," she grinned. "He's about as paranoid as Jet on scoliosis testing day."

I laughed as Sokka and Katara drove up in their blue Jeep. The mirth died in my throat when I saw Katara's face. It was darker than a hurricane, her greeting crisp as the morning air as she bore down on us. Sokka trailed behind, a faintly unsettled look on his face.

"Morning," she snapped at me. "Have you seen Zuko, by any chance?"

"Yeah, he went inside." I pointed her towards the door, and she stalked towards it. Toph and Sokka joined me in following after her.

"I'm guessing they had a fight again," I said quietly.

"Something like that." Sokka shrugged. "I think it happened on the chat room after we left, because she's been stewing ever since."

"It'll be around school by lunch," Toph said wisely. "You know how Sugar Queen likes to keep these things private."

I nodded fervently, remembering her very nasty and very public breakup with Jet; the end result was that Jet was frozen to a tree trunk in the courtyard, and Katara was in a foul mood for nearly two weeks.

"Well, see you," I waved as we approached the courtyard, peeling away and heading for the gym. I had airbending PE first (really, Avatar PE, seeing as how I could practice any bending form I wanted). I was in the mood for some firebending this cold morning. Maybe I could get Zuko's mind off of Katara for a while.

A fruitless endeavor, I noted wistfully as the couple in question came into view outside of the gym. I slowed my pace and considered turning back when Katara's angry words assailed my ears.

"—_believe_ you!" she half-shouted. "I finally work up the guts to tell you exactly how I feel—"

"You couldn't have the decency to tell it to my face?" Zuko yelled back, and I knew this was something serious. Usually Zuko replied with more calmness, because he was afraid of losing his temper. The fact that he was throwing it right back said something about how thinly he was stretched. "Who tells someone that online, especially for the first time?"

"That doesn't matter," Katara fired back, though her reddening cheeks said otherwise. "When someone tells you they love you, Zuko, you don't just blow them off!"

I blinked. I felt curiously hot and cold at the same time. She'd said the L word already?

"If it's so embarrassing you can't say it to me now, why would you say it online, over a _chatroom_, for Agni's sake?" Zuko growled. "If you mean it—"

"Maybe I don't!" Katara practically screamed. "Maybe I was just feeling _pressured_ into saying it!"

"How was I pressuring you?" Zuko asked, and I wanted to be anywhere but there at the moment. "I never said I wanted you to, did I?"

If that was Zuko's way of avoiding self-incrimination, he was woefully mistaken, I winced, peeking at Katara's thunderstruck expression. A second later it smoothed.

"No," she said coolly, "I guess you didn't."

She started walking away. Zuko watched her for a second, then reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Wait," he said. "That's it?"

She surveyed him with those beautiful blue eyes of hers. Her words sounded as though they were carefully chosen.

"I think it's time," she said, "to stop making each other so miserable. You're a good guy, Zuko, really, but you and I both know I only said I loved you to try and make something click for us. Maybe we seem happy on the outside," she touched his cheek, and I looked down, ashamed of myself for eavesdropping, "but…" There was a moment of silence, and I studied my feet, having the distinct impression she was kissing him. Sure enough, there was the telltale smacking sound, and she continued. "Whatever spark that was there before isn't anymore." I felt it safe to look up. She hitched her backpack on her shoulder. "See you around, Zuko. As a friend."

She walked off, and I waited five seconds before striding up the hall.

"Hey, Zuko!" I feigned cheerfulness. Well, actually, my innards were having a loud and raucous party, but I didn't need to let Zuko know that. "Feel up to some firebending today?"

"Huh?" Zuko looked at me, startled. I remembered vaguely a time when he towered over me and grinned inwardly at my well-timed growth spurt. "Oh. Um…I guess."

"Everything okay?" I asked, and he shrugged, walking with me to the locker rooms. He was silent as we changed, until, so distracted he'd put his red (for firebender) gym shorts on backwards, he sank to the bench and put his head in his hands.

"Katara broke up with me," he mumbled, and I frowned sympathetically.

"What happened?" I asked.

"She told me she loved me on the chatroom this morning, and I kinda…well, I panicked," he confided. "I closed out and tried to avoid her, but she found me and we fought." He rubbed his face. "Said she was tired of us making each other miserable and she just wanted to be friends."

"Wow." I laced up my shoes. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm…" he hesitated. "I'm confused. Yesterday everything's fine. We're getting along, I'm behaving, she's being herself, and today, it's like a nightmare." As he put his shorts on the right way and pulled on his shirt, he seemed to be getting angrier. "I mean, I was perfectly fine until she felt like she needed to drop that little bomb! Who told her we even ineeded/i to get to that level? We were doing fine before! Why does she get to decide when to take it up a notch?"

"Maybe she was testing to see if you were ready," I suggested. "I hear girls do whacko stuff like that."

"Whatever." Zuko shook his head. "We're over now, so there's no point in dwelling on the past." We stretched for a moment, and he burst out, "Why couldn't she just _leave it alone?_"

I shrugged, and Zuko stewed the rest of the block. His firebending suffered accordingly, until, by the end of gym, he was in such a towering temper I didn't dare say much to him besides goodbye.

Next block was Chemistry with Katara. Now, I thought as I toweled myself off after a quick shower, to get her side of things.

Her eyes were red-rimmed, and I knew she'd been crying, maybe all last block. I slid up to her.

"Hey," I said, putting my arm around her, "you okay?"

She shook her head, fresh tears erupting from her eyes.

"Wanna skip?" I asked, and she shook her head again. After a moment, she nodded.

"We r-really shouldn't," she said in a stuffed-up voice. "It's our first day back."

"We have the rest of the semester," I reasoned. "You need a personal health day. Hold on a sec."

I approached our teacher, Mr. Chan. "I think I need to take Katara home," I said in my most innocent and concerned voice. "She isn't feeling well."

Mr. Chan was Teo's dad, and I knew he would let us get away with murder, so long as we were Teo's friends. He peered around me at Katara's wet-cheeked face.

"Ah," he adjusted his glasses, "yes." He scribbled a pass and handed it to me, smiling kindly at Katara. "Feel better, Katara. You're not missing anything today, I guarantee it."

Katara nodded weakly, gathering her books and her bag. I eased the books out of her arms and walked up to the front office. If we were going to check out, we were going to do it right, by golly.

I presented the pass to the attendance lady, who barely glanced at it and waved us away. "Have a nice day," she said blandly as I steered Katara down the stairs towards the auditorium parking lot. Once she was tucked away in Appa's passenger side seat I leapt into the driver's seat, revving up the ancient engine.

"I'm thinking Sonic," I mused, "and maybe we can go see a movie. You game?"

Katara nodded listlessly, and I kept an eye on her as we drove, genuinely worried. She hadn't been this lifeless with her other breakups. With Jet, she'd been furious, fiery, for weeks. With Haru, she'd been crestfallen, but alright. With Zuko…it was like the passion had been drained from her. It scared me.

At Sonic she gummed her straw, not touching her cherry slush. I scooted closer to her, nudging her shoulder.

"You need to talk," I said simply, not even bothering to phrase it as a question. She nodded, taking a tentative sip from her slush (finally).

"I just feel…" she sighed. "I feel like that was the one good relationship I ever had, and I've gone and screwed it up. It was everything I wanted. With Zuko, I could open up, tell him anything, because he understood. I loved talking to him, I loved hanging out with him, I loved kissing him. It seemed the right balance of intellect and feeling." She rubbed her cheek absently. "Maybe that was the problem. It was too perfect. It was everything I wanted, but not exactly with the person I wanted."

"What was the problem with Zuko?" I asked. "I mean, what made you think he wasn't the person you wanted?"

"I don't know," she confided. "I suppose it was just when we fought. He'd fight back, but when he knew it was my fault, he didn't reply with any kind of passion. He was just…too calm. He was holding back. I want somebody who's not afraid to get in my face. And Zuko wasn't exactly the overly romantic type. Not that I'm into too much mushy-gushy, but he was kind of a cold fish except for when he thought it was expected of him. He was just going through the motions, honestly; he wasn't being up front with me. There was affection, but it was bottled up. We didn't really act like a couple except for a few moments here and there when he was in a good mood or I was feeling needy. It just wasn't…right, I guess."

She sipped her slush with a tad more enthusiasm as I thought of something else to say. The things that were coming to mind weren't exactly appropriate at the time; I didn't think it would be very smart of me to say stuff like "I can be the affectionate, open, honest boyfriend you need" or "I would throw myself off a building and not airbend myself to safety for you" or (most embarrassingly) "Baby, I got all the passion you want right here."

What came out was, "I'm sorry it didn't work out, Katara, really. But, hey, if you ever need someone to talk to about this kind of stuff, I'm always here for you."

She looked at me and smiled, really smiled, and I about shot up ten feet to Cloud Nine.

"Thanks, Aang," she leaned against me gratefully, and I finished my limeade as quietly as possible. One man's ex was another man's soul mate, I thought sagely, then rejected it immediately.

Just because Katara was now single again (remember that party my insides were having earlier? Yeah, it was still going strong) didn't necessarily mean she was free to be moved on. For one, emotionally, she needed her space, and I personally felt she needed to learn to be comfortable being alone before trying for another relationship. For another, Katara and Zuko were both my good friends. How would it look to Zuko, after I was sympathetic with him this morning, if just a few days or even weeks after she broke up with him, she was with me? I'd gone for a year with Zuko hating me, and it was hard. I didn't want to go through that again.

But, on the other hand, did he expect her to stay single for long, beautiful and popular as she was? Maybe he didn't, and that was what killed him. For the sake of Zuko's friendship, I could stay away from Katara. At least in that respect. Mostly. But if she came to me…all bets were off, Zuko, sorry.

She finished her slush and stood to go, and I asked her what movie she wanted to see. We squabbled on the way to the theatre between some sappy chick flick (ironically, my idea) and some gory action film (hers), and compromised on an action-comedy-romance. Once inside, we got two separate popcorn containers.

Now, if this seems strange, fear not, for there was a purpose. Katara, after receiving her popcorn tub, went straight for the barbeque seasoning and piled it on. I sniffed at her strange habit, dumping sugar packets in mine. She equally disdained my topping choice, and after laughing at one another, saturated our popcorn in butter. It was sort of our ritual, and part of the reason why the others didn't like sticking around when Katara and I were getting popcorn (it's not like Sokka was any better—he took the stuff iplain/i, the weirdo). Once this was done we mixed in a packet of gummy worms in each of our popcorn bowls and then went into the movie. She seemed to be feeling better, which was good; all through the movie she laughed at the funny parts and tensed at the action parts, but when it got to the romance, she kind of froze up and looked down in her popcorn, humming to herself until it was over.

After it was done we ran over to the outdoor mall, Two Bridges Plaza (why it was called Two Bridges was a mystery; the mall had only one bridge connecting the two halves over a natural river that ran to the ocean, just a short half hour away). It glittered in the cold air, and I managed to drag Katara into her favorite accessory shop. Normally, a guy who convinced a girl to do this would be gay (which I most certainly was not), and it was clear most of the shop girls thought I was as I tried to encourage Katara's enthusiasm by putting a lot of the hair bands and such in my own crazy hair. It wasn't until after a particularly flamboyant bit of peacock-feathered finery and an outrageous eyebrow-waggle that she finally laughed, taking it off my head and instead shoving a top hat on.

We goofed off in this manner until school was supposed to be let out, at which time I drove her home. As she got out of my car, she flashed me a brilliant smile, climbed back in, and hugged me.

"Thanks for a great day," she whispered. "I'm not going to be fully okay for a while, but…it's a start. Thanks."

I hugged her back tightly and smiled. "It's the least I could do," I said. "Are you going to Zuko's party? I mean…in light of what's happened…"

"No," she said firmly. "I don't think that's a good idea." She hugged me again and got out, and I watched her walk to the door of her house with a mingled feeling of worry and hope.

It really was too bad that Zuko knew exactly what he was missing, I thought ruefully.

* * *

><p>AN: Chapter One, finally. We've had some REALLY severe weather come through and we were without power for about four days, but compared to other areas...we got off so, so lucky. PLUS YOU GUYS ARE SO LUCKY I LIKE YOU...BECAUSE I'M ABOUT TO KILL SOMETHING THANKS TO FFN'S WEIRD TEXT CORRECTIONS. Aang's username is NOT supposed to have all the spaces in it, and the bolded parts are supposed to be underlined, PLUS all the HTML I had to convert over that was SO TIME-CONSUMING. AUGH. But anyway.

The Gaang is an Americanesque-setting, hence Toph being able to read and attend normal school via Braille. Not my best idea, but there you go. This is where you Kataangers and Maikos can settle in, and you Zutarians can enjoy it for the story. I have little to say about this, so just enjoy.


	3. Chapter 2: Zuko

Chapter Two

NEW MESSAGE: OMG OMG OMG!

From: Ty Lee

ZUKO AND KITARA BROKE UP! :)

NEW MESSAGE: Re: OMG OMG OMG!

From: Mai

So?

NEW MESSAGE: Re: Re: OMG OMG OMG!

From: Ty Lee

ZUKO IS SINGLE! thats good news, yah?

NEW MESSAGE: Re: Re: Re: OMG OMG OMG!

From: Mai

W/e.

Zuko's Playlist

Song: _Somewhere I Belong_

Artist: _Linkin Park_

I'm not one to express my feelings easily. With my family, your feelings are sort of your weakness. You admit to weakness, you die.

But how that translates to my everyday life is that people think I'm some sort of robot. I'm scared to be myself with other people, because I'm naturally mistrustful. I started Four Nations High about two years after my dad officially kicked me out over something stupid I did during one of his big business meetings. Not before he challenged me to a freakin' Agni Kai (some ancient firebending duel; I don't know _why_ he decided to bring that crap up) and fried the left side of my face. Picture this: I'm a scared thirteen-year-old kid, not quite old enough to know what to do in an Agni Kai, or even what an Agni Kai is, and there's this hulking monster who takes advantage of this fact and sears his own kid's face while he's begging for mercy. That's the kind of man my father is. That's something I'm never going to forget, not until the day I die.

I have a little sister, Azula. She's a couple of years younger than me, and she was always Daddy's Little Girl. He was so proud of her because she's just like him, maybe a little worse. I've always thought something wasn't right in Azula's head, and I guess I was right; last October she had a bona-fide mental breakdown, complete with crazed firebending episodes and even a moment where she lightningbolted the crud out of me (in fact, I'm not sure I would have made it if Katara wasn't around; we started going out after that little adventure). Dad and Azula were both checked into the psych ward for a little while, but Dad left with a bottle of antipsychotics he doesn't take a month afterwards. Azula…she's a special case, like I said. Maybe she's finally getting better, I don't know; I haven't been to see her. Maybe I should.

Anyway, long story short, I find it hard to express myself around others. Not because I'm ashamed of myself (not anymore, at least), but because I just can't get close to people. I've got friends that I'm lucky enough to have, but even among them, I'm the quiet one, the one who keeps to himself. I'm the voice of reason, the stick-in-the-mud. When I let someone in, it's because I trust them absolutely.

So you can imagine how much of a blow it was when Katara dumped me.

Here was someone I had trusted explicitly with, essentially, my heart, and she'd gone and broken it. I wanted to hate her for it, but as much as I tried, I just couldn't. All I could think about were her parting words: "I think it's time to stop making each other so miserable." It was kind of true, I thought. We didn't click in that she was a very openly affectionate person, I was more of a closed-up kind of lover. I spent the entire day thinking about her, even through Weapons History, which was my absolute favorite class last semester (it was a whole-year course, because the first half was the historical significance part, the second was practical use). Behind me, Haru, one of my friends, poked me.

"Mr. Piando wants us to pick out weapons for this semester," he whispered, and I snapped to reality for a moment. The class was filing to the front of the classroom, sizing up the weapons. I didn't need to look to see which ones I was most suited for: the double broadswords, a pair of which I had at home. I found myself standing next to Mai, my old childhood friend and ex. Like every day since last October she didn't look at me, didn't acknowledge my existence, and I tried my best to ignore her like she wanted me to. Once we were sitting again he walked to the front of the class, gathering the weapons that were left and observing our choices.

"I see you've chosen the tiger-head hook swords, Jet," he said to one of the boys in the back, someone who I remembered vividly for his attempt to reveal who I really was when I was hiding out in an earthbender-side tea shop (which Uncle still owns, and runs very well). I also remembered that he had a similar pair of swords in his possession, possibly in his locker. His brown eyes flicked towards me before returning to Piando, nodding. "An interesting choice. I assume you know how to use them?"

In answer Jet brandished the swords and flipped them around, showing off. I rolled my eyes. I could do the exact same thing with the broadswords without unwieldy hooks on the ends of my blades. How did you even stab someone with those without getting the hook around them, anyway?

Suki, Sokka's girlfriend, had picked a pair of battle fans, undoubtedly in the tradition of her little club, the Kyoshi Warriors. They were a group who were following in the footsteps of an ancient Avatar named Kyoshi who fought using the fans (and earthbending, and Avatar powers, but her image included fans). Piando's eye passed over her with a small smile, then turned to Mai and her shuriken. After a quick appraisal of her skills (where Mai pinned a fly that had been buzzing about annoyingly to the teacher's desk), he turned to me. He studied me for a minute, then nodded.

"Keep in mind," he said, "that these weapons will be what you will learn to fight with. By the end of the semester, you should be able to fend me off and perhaps even keep me on my toes. You will practice on each other during the semester, but keep in mind that your weapons are blunted, which is why you will be using _my_ weapons as opposed to your own. This class has a tenuous-enough place in the curriculum without actually drawing blood."

The rest of the class passed in taking notes about the proper use of our chosen weapons, which I completely disregarded and instead spent scribbling aimlessly in my margins. Mai was the first out the door when the bell rang, but she stopped for a few seconds, her eyes meeting mine for the first time in months. Her usual deadpan expression cracked for a moment, and the emotion she seemed to be expressing I couldn't understand or describe as anything other than hurt. It jarred me a little. Then, just like that, she was gone.

I headed out the door to my car, wondering despite myself if Katara was going to go to my party now. I highly doubted it.

My suspicion proved correct. She stayed away, but that didn't mean that the rest of the gang felt obligated to. Toph, Sokka, Aang, Ty Lee, Teo, and Haru all showed up, and I found it easy to forget my problem in catering to everyone else's needs. Uncle Iroh bustled around in the background, refilling drinks and keeping the food coming, winking at me periodically. It was a nice, chill party, I thought, and perfectly able of functioning without _her_.

"Hey," Sokka greeted me, sliding up next to me behind the couch, watching Toph (somehow) pummel Aang and Teo at Mario Kart Racing. "How're you holding up?"

"Good," I said stiffly. I knew exactly what he was talking about. And, to tell the truth, I didn't want to talk about it, not even to Sokka. Maybe especially to Sokka, seeing as how he's Katara's brother. He snorted.

"Whatever," he rolled his eyes. "Katara's been moody since she got home today, which is a step up, I guess. I heard she was crying for all of first block before Aang smuggled her out of school."

"What?" My head snapped towards the airbender in question, who was laughing it up with Toph. "He did that for her?"

"Yeah. Kid's crazy about her," Sokka laughed. I studied Aang carefully. He didn't show any signs of unexplained happiness (other than his usual insane optimism). And he seemed truly sympathetic this morning when he was talking to me.

But there had to be a part of him that was over the freakin' moon that Katara was now single. I wonder if he'd already sidled up, trying to fill my place, telling her mean old Zuko didn't understand her, didn't know her like he did, couldn't measure up to what he did….

Before I knew it I had walked around the couch, squatted next to Aang, and hissed, "Outside. Now. I've got to talk to you."

He followed me, looking slightly bewildered, and I opened my front door for him to step outside, following him out and closing it behind me. He looked at me, and suddenly I knew he knew why I called him out.

"Look, Zuko," he said slowly, "it's not whatever you think it is. Katara was upset, so I took her out. Just as friends."

"I'm sure," I said acidly. "And I'm sure it wasn't your idea in the first place to have her see if I was ready to say 'I love you,' wasn't it? And I'm sure it wasn't on your mind at all that Katara's free for some other guy to pick up?" With every minute I was getting more and more angry, my accusations becoming wilder. "And I just _know_ it wasn't at _all_ on your mind to make me out as the bad guy so Katara would stay away forever? Huh? Wasn't it?"

He frowned. "Zuko, we're just friends. Honest. Whatever reason she broke up with you for was her own reason, and I sure wasn't stupid enough to talk bad about you when she was so upset over breaking it off. Not that I would ever trash-talk you," he amended hastily as I growled, "because you're my friend, too, and—look, Zuko, I thought about how it would look if…well…if…you know…" His discomfort was extremely funny all of a sudden. As I watched him practically turn purple over trying to form the words, I realized that I was overreacting. Aang was a good guy, and a smart one. He'd probably thought I would react exactly the way I did, too.

"Okay, look," I held up my hands, and he froze. "Uh…sorry about biting your head off. I'm still angry about the breakup, but that's no excuse for me to second-guess you." I watched his expression for a minute, and he looked incredulous, relieved. "Besides…Katara's a great girl. She'll be lucky to have you."

His brow furrowed as he absorbed what I had just said, and then he flushed. I laughed as he started stammering about how he and Katara were "just friends," and then walked back inside, leaving Aang to ponder my possible bi-polar disorder, and rejoined the party.

In the secret part of my mind, I hoped that just because I'd given Aang the thumb's-up he wouldn't try to pounce on her immediately.

Once everyone left and the house was blissfully quiet again, Iroh patted me on the shoulder.

"Get some rest," he said. "It has been a long day."

I nodded, walking into my room and immediately collapsing onto my bed. I lay awake for another hour, thinking about the day and about a pair of blue eyes.

* * *

><p>AN: Here we go, guys. Zuko is kinda hard to write for, y'all. Just in case you weren't aware. ARGH. Anyway, for people who are familiar with my first posting of this story, this is where a tidbit to the careful would jump out. Personally, I think it's grand. :D Huh. I just realized how short this one is. But whatever. It'll pick up soon. :D

But enough of my horn-tooting. Review and toot it for me.


	4. Chapter 3: Toph

Chapter Three

**Sokka Kuruk**_'s Wall_

**Toph Bei Fong** hey Sokka wanna grab grub after school 2morow?

**Sokka Kuruk** no im meetn w/ suki mayb l8r?

**Toph Bei Fong** yah sure

Toph's Playlist

Song: _You Belong With Me_

Artist: _Taylor Swift_

* * *

><p>I'm awesome. There's no other way around it.<p>

Really. I'm a medical marvel. I was born blind and tiny, even at a young age with a rough-and-tough personality to compensate. I was about five when I discovered my earthbending talents. There's a forest around my house, with a deep cave somewhere in the back. I wandered off one day, following rumblings I felt in the earth, and I got lost. I'm a teeny little toddler, in a green and white dress all smudged with dirt (I bet), bawling my eyes out in the middle of a dark cave. If anyone but blind badgermoles had found me, I would have been quite a sight. You know, for someone who could see.

Those old badgermoles taught me how to earthbend; I followed their motions, and developed a bending style of my own. I'm the best. I learned from the original masters, and I proved it time and time again in the Earth Rumble stadium. Unfortunately, there was no convincing my parents that I was anything but the tiny, weak, helpless baby my mother delivered. I mean, it's taken them every day of all these months after helping Aang stop Ozai for them to accept me. I guess I understand; I ran away for about a year beforehand, but my dad _saw_ me fight in the Rumble. He knew exactly how strong I was before I ran.

Nowadays, my parents and I have a shaky peace going. They can't deny that I'll go wherever I want (unless they want to lock me in a wood or plastic box), but I still understand that, so long as I'm living under their roof, I'll make somewhat of an effort to obey their rules. It's…well, it's not great, but it's the closest thing I've got to acceptance from them, so I take what I can get.

Luckily for me, I've got the best friends in the world. Aang, Katara, Zuko, and Sokka are the most awesome people I know. However, there is one teensy problem with them. Well, with my _best_ friend. Sokka freakin' Kuruk.

See, Sokka has this girlfriend, Suki Kyoshi. She's the cheerleader captain, president or co-president of practically every club ever, class treasurer, Miss Congeniality in every student poll, and pretty much Perfect In Every Way. I like Suki, but she can be a bit much sometimes (and, coming from someone as over-the-top as me, that's saying something). I mean, overly sappy at him. It's one thing to fuss over him when he's been captured by some rogue spirit and not seen for days; it's another entirely to clean his tonsils after a busy weekend. He laps it up, and I think I know why—his first girlfriend…well, after her accident, Katara says Sokka just wasn't right after that. I understand that, but does he have to rub it in everyone's face that he has a girlfriend? I mean, seriously.

Anyway, I was doing my usual when I'm left at home with nowhere to be: out in the courtyard, practicing my earthbending with one of the guards, under the ever-watchful eye of my parents from the patio. As usual, I was creaming the guard, but he was taking it with his usual stoicism. I got bored, kicked him over, and walked back up to the patio, mopping up my face with a towel hanging on a tree branch. My mother, as usual, didn't say anything, and, as usual, my father tensed as I walked by him, and I knew he was waiting for me to bump into something.

"Something bugging you?" I asked, irritable. He snorted and returned to whatever he was reading. I felt like saying more, but the words wouldn't come, and I retreated to a corner of the patio, playing with my space bracelet. A few months back a meteor crashed close to town, and with the ore in the hunk of rock Sokka made himself a sword under Mr. Piando's careful eye. He gave me a bit of the rock-metal substance, and usually I wore it as a bracelet around my arm. I liked bending it into different shapes; its elastic nature never got old.

"Toph," my mother spoke suddenly, and I looked up, startled. "Your father and I have been talking—"

"That's new," I muttered, and my father cleared his throat sternly.

"Listen to us, please. I know things between us haven't always been the most healthy, and the fault there is…well, it's mine."

I froze. My old man was actually admitting fault? _Definitely_ something new.

"So," my mother continued, "we've noticed that your skill at earthbending is…Toph, it's very good."

I refrained from rolling my eyes. Duh.

"Your mother and I have decided that you're ready to graduate to practicing without Master Yu," Dad finally said. I laughed.

"Like I've been training so hard with him before?" I grinned. "No, really, you haven't wondered at all why he hasn't been coming around for months?"

"We feel it best if you continue to study under a teacher," my father continued, "because there may be things you have not yet mastered."

"That's a load of crap," I muttered. "Tell you what, if you can find a teacher that's better than me, I'll wear a dress to school."

"You need more humility," my mom admonished. "There's always someone better than you out there."

_No one_ was as good as I was, I grinned. Eat that, Suki. Is no one as good as you at whatever it is you do? I don't think so.

Except…well…to Sokka, she was the best at loving him, bar none. I could think of one person who could kick her to Timbuktu and back and _still_ do a better job, but I wasn't the judge of that. Thinking about it made me angry, so I stomped back out to the courtyard and kicked the guard I was practicing with free.

"Round two," I said tersely, and at the scowl on my face his heartbeat quickened. I grinned.

Show time.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Toph," Sokka grinned at me as he slid up next to me in Child Development. It was one of those half-classes we had to take to fill up our half credit requirement, and Sokka and I knew there was no way we'd be taking a class like that by ourselves. We were each other's defense in this class, after all. Once that stupid plastic baby was brought out, we'd need to find some way to keep each other sane, and that was by giving it to Katara. "Ready to figure out how to make babies?"<p>

I gave him a look, hoping to high heaven that burning sensation I was feeling crawl up my neck wasn't showing on my face. "We took Biology, Sokka, I think I know how to make a baby."

"Touché," he said, and I shook my head. It was one of those thoughtless things Sokka threw out without even considering how they sounded. "This class is more about how to take care of a baby, isn't it?"

"You were here yesterday, Sokka," I rolled my eyes. "You should know this."

"Yeah," he said, lowering his voice, "but I was texting Suki, so…" he shrugged, as if that settled things. I smacked him across the face, and he recoiled, whining about how that hurt. I grinned, and he elaborated. "I apparently said something that upset her, so I was trying to explain to her what I meant when I compared her to a sirloin steak."

"Let me guess," I said, "satisfying, lean, and juicy?"

"Something like that," Sokka grinned (I could always tell when he was smiling; it came through in his voice), and I smiled back. Then I frowned, touching my fingertips together. Something oily was on them. I held them up to Sokka.

"What's this?" I asked, and he stuttered for a moment.

"Um…nothing," he said, and I felt his heartbeat quicken. "Let me wipe that off for you—"

I shoved his hand away with my elbow, putting my fingers up to my nose and sniffing them. I smeared them on my lips and smacked them together.

"Lipstick," I said, and Sokka gulped. "What, you and Suki get a little carried away today?"

He didn't answer, and I smiled, but inside, another tiny crack added itself to my heart. We went through class as usual, him taking notes and me paying attention for when he couldn't read his handwriting and I remembered something he forgot. We made a good team that way; that's why we had every class but PE together. He was the one who could work my Braille punch faster than anyone so I could study by myself, and I was the one who could talk him out of his _"I'm stupid and don't know any of this I should just drop out right now"_ moods. I mean, we just _worked_ together in every sense of the word but one, and I hated that one sense.

But I was getting distracted, and that wouldn't do, so I locked away my frustration to unleash on my new teacher today.

Speaking of which, I hadn't told Sokka about it. He would get a laugh out of that.

After class, I reminded myself sharply, turning back to Mr. Cabaj. He kept class interesting enough, with his odd cabbage baby metaphors, but after a while, you had to know he had a complex for that kind of stuff.

The rest of the day rolled by slowly, with me dreading every tick of the clock. Finally, the bell to go home rang, and Sokka clapped me on the shoulder.

"See you," he said, giving my shoulders a quick squeeze and running off to find Suki. I trudged outside, grumbling internally about tall meat-loving dorkheads, and climbed into the car when Sanji showed up. Sanji had been my nurse when I was little, my nanny when I got older. She put up with me well, but today wasn't one of the days when I felt like being put up with. She sensed that, and didn't say anything on the drive home, only stopping to tell me that my teacher was already waiting for me.

"Great," I groaned, and stomped to my room (ground-floor, because my dad was worried I'd fall out a window or trip down the stairs or something) to drop my backpack off, peel out of my school clothes, and change into something more comfortable; namely, my Blind Bandit uniform, the outfit I wore to the Earth Rumble competitions, complete with the champion's belt. My parents didn't like being reminded of the fact that their poor, fragile, sixteen-year-old daughter was a kick-butt earthbending champion, but if they wanted me to succumb to their wishes, my teacher had better learn quick that he was teaching the absolute best.

I stomped outside and heard a voice I wasn't expecting: deep, masculine, and entirely familiar.

"The Boulder would like to reiterate that his rates are set, because your child will undoubtedly be getting the best education of her life," the conceited voice of one of my Rumble rivals boomed across my backyard. "In addition, the Boulder hopes your house and backyard are insured, because this will get messy."

"Darn right it's gonna get messy," I called, "because I'm going to be mopping the floor with your face."

I felt his heartbeat stop for a second when he turned to me, all two hundred and thirty pounds of him seizing up. I leapt to the grass and let a smile paint its way across my face.

* * *

><p>"If that's the best you can find," I told my parents ten minutes later, dusting my hands off over the Boulder's comatose face, "you need to get your money back." I cracked my neck. "This was fun. Let me know if someone else applies to teach me."<p>

I left my parents to their gaping and went inside, whistling.

I collapsed onto my bed, for once completely and utterly exhausted in a fulfilled sort of way. This was a genius idea, I thought smugly as I snuggled into my pillow, intent on taking a nice nap. If Mom and Dad were uncertain of my abilities before, now they should be more aware.

Unfortunately, my nap was shattered halfway through by my phone going off. I grimaced, rolled onto my stomach so I could reach my phone from its place in my backpack pocket, and flipped it open.

"Yes, your Meatheadedness?" I grumbled.

"Oh, did I wake you up? Sorry," he apologized, and I tried not to grin. "Well, Suki and I are done, so you and I can go do something, if you want."

Something was casually off about his voice. I didn't like it. Down the hall our old grandfather clock chimed.

"It's only six," I pointed out. "What did you and Suki do that only took two hours? Usually you guys are all over each other until at least eight."

"We went for a walk in the park, nothing major," he said, but that odd quality was still in his voice. I wasn't sure what to think of it. I wouldn't know anything until I went and felt for myself what his earthy vibrations were like.

"When," I sighed, "and where?"

* * *

><p>AN: Introducing Toph, y'all. :D For some reason these chapters seem awfully short, but then, they're the introduction chapters; things will indeed pick up soon. :D

I think you can all guess who's coming up next.

And for people who read my first draft of this story, here's another chapter where a big change was made. Kudos to the people who caught it and liked it. ;)

REVIEWWWWWW!


	5. Chapter 4: Sokka

Chapter Four

**_Sokka Kuruk_** _be missin' 'is wench._

* * *

><p>Sokka's Playlist<p>

Song: _Gives You Hell_

Artist: _The All-American Rejects_

* * *

><p>She wanted her space.<p>

Yeah, I could respect that. I just couldn't respect how she chose to tell me. She took me to my favorite hot dog vendor, then on a walk through the park, the place where we met. She sat down on the bench where I first asked her out, looked at me with those beautiful dark blue eyes of hers….

And told me that she wanted to break up with me so she could focus on her _game_. I mean, she's already the top cheerleader in the state, the fiercest martial arts champion I know, the valedictorian of our class on top of everything else, and she wants space to work on stuff she's already monumentally good at?

I guess I should have seen this coming, what with all the drifting we'd been doing lately. I knew Toph cracked a lot of jokes about how close me and Suki were, but, honestly, we were seeing less and less of each other as the year wore on. She had her extracurriculars, I had mine, you know? But…making me relax and think back on how good everything was…that wasn't the smartest way to try and get me to let go.

She did something right with it, and told me she would give me some time to warm up to the idea before making it official, but in my eyes, it was already over. Over, done, and dead. Sokka Kuruk, famous ladies' man, was open and back on the market.

Pff. Yeah, right. More like Sokka Kuruk, biggest crybaby ever, was back to snuggling his teddy at night to make himself feel better about himself.

I'm weird, and I know it. My first love is meat, my second girls. I like my boomerang, I like my sword. I made it myself, you know, my sword. It's not a bad sword. It's black. Made from a meteor. I do have an actual teddy bear, but I keep it because it's the last thing my mom made me before she died, not because I still cling to it like some sort of security blanket. Much. My best friends are a blind girl, an ancient hero person, the guy next in line to inherit a company that was destroying everything in sight just a year ago, and my sister. All four of these people have weird magic powers I'll never understand other than how to use it to my advantage (or, in Toph's case, how to avoid her mischievous streak). The only other person I knew who was normal and liked it that way was Suki, and now…well…she was tired of me.

Man. This week was an unlucky one for the romantic Kuruks. That was our curse, romance. We're hot-blooded people. Comes from our ancestors. They lived in the freezing cold poles, for whatever reason. Makes us ferocious warriors and fierce lovers. And, of course, avid meat-eaters.

Can't say I'm too sad about Suki breaking up with me, though. Just angry, more than anything. It's going to suck seeing her in school from now on. She's going to be off being amazing, doing her thing, and I've got to start pretending like I don't care. I mean, all she does is work, anyway. She just works, and works, and works, and she has all these accolades and awards and stuff, but where is any of it going to get her in life if she just works herself to death? No friends, no family, nothing at all for her. She's working a job, too, did I mention that? She's been working at this dojo since she was a baby, practically, and now since she's started her Kyoshi Warriors club thing, it's all she thinks about.

Well, I thought to myself as I pulled out my phone to call the one person I knew who could get me out of this funk, screw you, Suki. You're giving up a great boyfriend for nothing but a life of hard work and misery. I hope you're satisfied.

"Yes, your Meatheadedness?" Toph's voice scratched over the phone line, and I got the distinct impression she'd been sleeping.

"Oh, did I wake you up? I'm sorry," I apologized. "Well, Suki and I are done," I paused for a split-second to compose myself, "so you and I can go do something, if you want."

She was silent for a minute, and I thought she hung up on me, but then she spoke. "It's only six. What did you and Suki do that only took two hours? Usually you two are all over each other until at least eight."

Wow, that long? I never noticed…but, then, time flies when you're having fun, and right now, time was standing still. "We went for a walk in the park, nothing major." A big fat lie, but better I tell that to her now when she couldn't tell I was lying to her than have her beat it out of me later, when I didn't have my story straight.

She sighed heavily. "When, and where?"

"How about Two Bridges?" I said. "It should be all lit up by now." I smacked myself. "I mean, less people, you know?"

"Nice save," she snorted, and I grinned sheepishly. "You're picking me up if we're going there."

"Deal," I said, and hung up on her. Toph lived on the opposite side of town from me, and if I wanted to make it to Two Bridges before karaoke night started, I'd need to hurry.

I jumped off of my bed, running full-tilt out of my room (pausing only a second to trip over a pair of shoes in my floor and faceplant into a convenient pile of random laundry). I snatched up my keys, and Dad looked up from the couch.

"Where are you off to?" he asked, and I paused for another second to tell him.

"Toph. Two Bridges. Stuff."

"That's descriptive," he snorted. "Have fun."

I nodded and ran out the door, shivered, ran back inside for my coat, came out again, figured I'd probably need some extra cologne or something after all this running, ran back inside, hosed myself down, ran back outside, and jumped in the car. Once I started up my Jeep and the heater started going I realized how strong I smelled and rolled down the window to air out. Traffic was light for a Wednesday night, and I made it to Toph's in record time. She was sitting outside on the steps of her parents' mansion, her green khaki jacket pulled tight around her and her long, dark hair scooped into its usual messy bun. She stood as I pulled up, her mouth trying hard not to quirk into a smile.

"Geez, Snoozles," she said as she climbed into my passenger side door, "did you shower in perfume?"

I frowned at her. "It's cologne, actually," I sniffed. "More manly."

"But you did shower in it," she deadpanned as I pulled out of her driveway (not hard to do; it looped around a massive fountain with a flying boar in the uppermost tier).

"Well, would you rather be choking on my girl-magnet body spray, or on my manstank BO?" I asked her frankly. She grinned.

"Point taken," she nodded. "Your overactive sweat glands aside, what happened with you and Suki?"

I sighed as we pulled up to a red light. I had hoped we could bypass this conversation, but she knew me best, like always. It would be best just to spit it out and let her laugh at me now while I was being up front with her.

"Suki…Suki wants to go her own way," I said carefully. "She's really busy nowadays, and it's not like we see much of each other anyway, and sometimes two people just kind of get tired of each other after a while, and—"

"She's breaking up with you," Toph said flatly, and I cringed at the way she worded it. "That's rough, Sokka. Did she say why?"

"Just that she needs more time to focus on her life," I sighed. "Figures. She's bitten off more than she can chew, and now she's cutting what she thinks is…dead weight, I guess." I swore, banging the steering wheel and almost swerving us off the road. "Why did she have to do this? It's not like I'm some clingy, obsessive boyfriend that needs attention twenty-four-seven! I helped her out on a good chunk of that crap she's working on! I made her _relax_ when she was pushing herself too hard, and that's all I can think of that would make her think I'm not worth her precious time!"

"If she doesn't think you're worth it, then she's not worth it anymore, either," Toph said calmly, releasing her iron grip on her armrest. "Look, you grew apart. It happens, you know? Two years is a long time to be together, especially for teenagers. This isn't the end of the world."

I didn't know what to say to that. I was expecting Toph to make some brash joke and laugh, so I would have something to laugh at, too. I wasn't sure what to make of Toph being serious. I mean, it's not unheard of, but it's rare, usually saved for moments where there's a lot at stake. Like hanging off the roof of the Ozai Incorporated skyscraper, where my fingers are the only things stopping her from plummeting seventy stories to the pavement, and my other hand is the only thing keeping us both afloat. I shuddered at the memory, pushing it back into its box with the rest of my life's bad events. Now wasn't a good time to think about that.

"I know," I said slowly as we pulled into the Two Rivers parking lot, "but…it's just…it's weird, you know? Call me unrealistic, but I was sort of hoping that Suki would…well…would be around…you know…forever."

"Sokka," Toph said gently, "even if Suki's not around, you've still got friends. You've still got me." She punched me in the arm, smiling. "If talking about her nonstop is what gets you though, then I'll listen to every word of it, but right now," she clicked her seatbelt off, "I think it's Karaoke Night."

At her words I smiled, both at the realization that, yes, she was right, and yes, it was indeed Karaoke night.

"Ready to make fun of the middle-aged overweight wash-ups?" she asked, and I undid my own seatbelt in answer.

"Lead the way."

She snorted again.

"Sorry."

* * *

><p>"Okay," I said, gasping for breath as my laughter finally petered out, "what do you rate that guy?"<p>

"That was a guy?" Toph asked lightly, taking a bite of her frozen yogurt. "Describe him."

"Ugly, short, dark hair parted on the side, glasses, pleather jacket, girl jeans, full of himself," I rattled off, and Toph grinned. Though I knew the description didn't really help her in knowing what he looked like, it helped her put him in a category of people she associated together. This one was uber-dweeb.

"Nine out of ten," she said, and I whistled at the low rating. "In the future, warn me when a Justin Beiber wanna-be gets onstage so I can start gnawing my ears off."

I laughed and scooped out some of her frozen yogurt (I had already finished mine). Her spoon thwacked against my hand, and I retreated with my prize and a throbbing finger. "Looks like someone else is getting onstage. This should be good."

Toph's brow furrowed. I didn't like the look of her expression. "Where?"

"She's right in the middle of the platform," I directed. The platform was a concrete pedestal on the ground, with a band sitting behind it to play the songs. Toph's frown deepened.

"There's no one there."

I turned back to the stage, just in time to see the little old lady who had previously been standing there morph into an enormous spider with gaping jaws. It let out an odd, screeching cry, and I stood, grabbing Toph's wrist.

"Time to go," I said, and we started running as the screaming started. I chanced a glance backwards, and the spider, easily two stories tall, was still standing in the midst of the scattering crowd. The second I looked at it, it scuttled into motion, bearing down hard.

…on _us_.

I swore, and Toph reacted, throwing her arms behind her for a moment to toss up a couple pillars of earth to put in the spider's way. The spider took no notice, crawling up and over like they were nothing.

"I can't see where it is!" Toph yelled, agitated and scared. I looked back again and scooped Toph up in my arms, and she climbed onto my back, riding piggyback. The spider was gaining, and though I was using every defensive maneuver in my arsenal, the stupid thing was coming, and coming fast. I put on an extra desperate amount of speed, and behind me heard Toph pull out her phone.

"Get your—" she used several choice words that were sure to make whoever she was talking to flush, "_down_ here and stop this freakin' ghost spider from killing us, if you please, Twinkletoes!" After another pause she screamed, "Two Bridges! You're practically right there! Get here _now_!"

She hung up, and I doubled back, running back towards the spider. Toph screeched in my ear, but I kept moving, zigzagging between the spider's legs and making it twirl around gracelessly. Once it was sufficiently dizzy I headed back towards the platform.

A second after I started I knew it was a mistake; that end of Two Bridges was a dead end. Too late to change directions now, I thought, weaving between landscaping and benches. Aang had better hustle, or we were spider bait.

By the time I got to the wall that served as the end of Two Bridges I let Toph down, who was red in the face from her pent-up rage.

"That was _brilliant_, meathead!" she screamed at me, sarcasm dripping off her words through her fear. "Now we're going to get wrapped up like presents at Christmas and get our juices sucked out! Are you happy?"

I took her hand as the spider closed in, its pincers rustling and jaws dripping with venom. Toph heard it, even if she couldn't feel it, and her fingers squeezed mine.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," I admitted. "Sorry."

She gave a hysterical giggle. "_Sorry_." She was silent, then said, "Hey, Sokka, before we die, um…there's…there's something I want to tell you."

"Yeah?" I said, only half-listening; the other half of my attention was focused on our now-slowly approaching doom.

"Well, I…uh…I really—"

The rest of her words were drowned out as Aang suddenly swooped in, knocking the spider back with a gust of air that pushed it onto its back, skidding. I whooped, and Toph cheered loudly.

"What did you want to say, Toph?" I asked, and she reddened.

"Just that I'm sorry you and Suki broke up," she said, but I knew she was lying. Whatever she wanted to say would have to wait until she wanted to say it again. And, you know, when we weren't still in mortal peril or whatever.

"I could use some help here, guys!" Aang yelled as the spider hissed, rearing back on its hind legs like a horse, batting at the air with its four front legs at the beanie-wearing figure zooming around it.

"What do you want us to do?" I asked, somewhat peeved. "Toph can't see where it is, and I'm not exactly a magical prancing fairy, unlike _someone_ I know!"

Aang ignored the insult (which, in all honesty, slipped out in the heat of the moment; honest) and said, "Toph, I need you to make a sinkhole, about a hundred feet around, thirty feet in front of you. Sokka, distract it so I can land on its head."

"Great," I said sourly, and as Toph trapped its legs in solid earth I ran up under it and whistled. It twisted around, unable to free its feet. "Hey! Down here, creepy!"

It writhed, and Aang somehow found his chance and hopped on its head. He held on despite its bucking around, and I hastily ran out of the way to see what he was doing. He had his hands flat on his head, his eyes closed, and I figured he was meditating (though why he felt the need to meditate right on the dang thing was beyond me). Sure enough, his eyes flew open, and they were glowing. _Go Avatar state,_ I thought.

Aang said something, but he was too quiet and too far up to hear. The spider heard him, and stiffened. After a tense minute it started shrinking, and Aang leapt off its head with a kind of deadly grace he didn't usually have. Once his feet touched the ground his eyes cleared, and he slumped. I ran to catch him before he hit the ground, and watched in awe as the spider shrunk back into a little old lady in a kimono and disappeared. Toph walked up, poking my arm.

"What just happened?" she asked, and I looked at her.

"I have no idea," I said honestly, and Aang shrugged me off, stumbling a little, but alright.

"That was weird," he said, and Toph made an impatient sound. "Look, I gotta think about this before I tell you guys exactly what happened."

"Does it have something to do with the Spirit World acting crazy?" I asked frankly, and after a moment he nodded.

"This time was different," he said, and I tensed.

"Different how?"

"Later," he said vaguely. "I've got to get some stuff straight in my head, okay? Look, I'll tell you about it tomorrow, but right now…right now, you'd better take Toph home before her parents flip out and call the cops again. This is going to be all over the news in about an hour."

There was too much truth in his words to ignore, and I put my arm around her.

"Come on, Toph," I said. "Home it is."

She was silent on the way to her house, and I wondered how badly she was freaking out about the whole spider thing. I knew my hands hadn't stopped shaking yet. We were pulling into her driveway before she said anything.

"Sokka…" she trailed off, then waited until I stopped the car to reach over and hug me. "I'm really sorry about…you know."

I hugged her back, perhaps a little tighter than usual, but, then again, we had both nearly died, and it was a nice comfort to know she was still breathing and functioning normally.

"Wasn't your fault," I said simply. "Do you want me to walk you to the door?"

"No thanks," she rolled her eyes. "I'm perfectly capable of walking by myself, Snoozles."

"Yeah," I agreed dumbly, and she got out and walked up to the door. She turned around just before she opened it, waved, and turned the door handle. Just before it closed I saw Mr. and Mrs. Bei Fong rushing her, and I winced at the possible telling-off she was getting. I drove home with my music turned up as loud as it would go, trying to calm down. I guess Katara and Dad heard me as I drove up, because they both poked their heads around the curtains. Once I was inside they jumped me, Katara hugging me, Dad pointing at the TV and raising his eyebrows.

"Remember when I told you to have fun?" he asked. "I didn't mean that much fun."

"If that was fun," I grimaced as the TV played out my latest escapade, "then may I never have fun again." From here, the whole thing looked a whole lot worse. And really, really cool. Some idiot had stayed to take a video with his phone, and as it played out, I saw an oddly misshapen blur speed by the lens, emitting a high-pitched shriek. A second later I realized it was me, with Toph on my back (Toph was doing the screaming, not me. I think).

"We haven't yet identified this brave young man or the girl he was carrying," the reporter was saying, "but they are responsible for leading the monster away from the city and towards a clever trap, where the Avatar, once again, saved the day by sending the creature back to where it came from. Sources tell us that the creature is a vengeful spirit seeking retribution for the recent construction in the city in the ancient swamp areas, long rumored to be haunted. Whether this report is true or not will have to wait until we receive a statement from the Avatar himself, who dealt with the spirit. As to the heroes who distracted it, city officials are eager to shake their hands and tell them 'job well done.' With Channel Eight News, I'm Joo Dee."

Katara looked at me flatly, and I scratched my cheek.

"Um…it wasn't planned like that," I said as Dad turned back to me, his arms crossed over his chest, grinning. "Toph called him while I was running, and it was coming after us anyway, so it seemed like a good idea to confuse it…."

"Wait," Katara stopped me, "it was coming after _you_? How do you know?"

"Katara, it only morphed when I looked right at it, and then it went straight in our direction. I was doing some crazy running there, and it was following every step. I tell you, it was after us."

"What did Aang say?" Dad asked, watching the grainy video (on a different channel, no less; crap) as the spider turned around to chase me and Toph.

"Said it was weird and he'd tell us about it tomorrow," I shrugged, shooting Katara a meaningful look. "He said it was weirder than the stuff that's been happening recently."

Katara frowned, and I knew she didn't get it any more than I did.

"Well," Dad said, "the important thing is that you're safe," he pulled me into a hug, "and the spirit, or monster, or whatever, is gone." He ruffled my hair. "Get some sleep, kiddo. You've got school tomorrow, and you need some rest after something like that."

I nodded wearily and walked into my room, suddenly exhausted. I peeled out of my sweaty clothes and pulled on my pajama pants just in time for me to collapse on my bed and fall asleep almost instantly. After a day like today, I needed it.

* * *

><p>AN: Hola. This is Sokka's chapter, where we find out stuff! The first spirit attacks, Suki breaks up with Sokka, and frozen yogurt in January abounds!

...man, I love this story. Egotistical of me, but I do. It's probably the only thing I've ever written that I'm entirely satisfied with. Mostly, but still.

REVIEW. NOW. OR THE SPIRIT SPIDERS WILL EAT YOU.


	6. Chapter 5: Katara

Chapter Five

_Aang, are you sure you're alright?_

**I'm fine, Katara. I think. I'm not sure. Look, just give me until lunch, okay?**

_Okay._

* * *

><p>Katara's Playlist<p>

Song: _Single Ladies_

Artist: _Beyoncé Knowles_

* * *

><p>I'm a nice person, really. I just have a bad reputation for losing my temper. It's not like I even do it all that often. Jeez, you freeze <em>one<em> guy to a tree….

Anyway, I also have a reputation of being very kind. Sort of a weird situation, but there it is. I'm famous for being good with a nasty temper. It's better than other things, I suppose.

When Dad and I saw the news, we were pretty much scared out of our minds. We knew that's where Sokka and Toph were, and all the panic the news was causing wasn't doing much. I mean, interrupting _Glee_ to say that Two Bridges was under attack from a giant spider? Not very comforting. And not very smart. But, then, when have authority figures in this town been smart?

School the next day was an interesting affair; everyone was abuzz about the incident, of course, and Aang had to duck and hide everywhere to avoid his "fan club," as Toph so lovingly calls it. It's really closer to a stalker club; his fangirls have actually made T-shirts with Aang's face ironed on and buttons with his arrow tattoo (in honor of his heritage, Aang actually got a tattoo on his left upper arm in the shape of the blue arrow on his beanie. His landlord freaked out about it, because he was twelve when he got it). They're pretty creepy, and Aang tries to avoid them where he can. Today he ran into Chemistry, out of breath and sporting several rips in his hoodie and lipstick smudges on his cheeks.

"I swear they're out to kill me," he whispered hoarsely, and I held back a laugh at his theatrically disheveled appearance. He fell into his seat, next to mine. "Aw, man, this is my favorite hoodie." He pushed his fingers through the holes in the yellow orange-striped fabric. He then used his sleeve to scrub at his face. "Is my face okay?"

"It's perfect," I said lightly, pretending not to notice the color rising in his cheeks. "You know, Aang, you could just airbend them away or something."

"I don't want to hurt them," he protested. "Besides, every time I threaten them with bending they get even more excited. They're worse than the _Twilight_ freaks."

"Hey," I said reproachfully, and he grinned at me.

"Sorry, the TwiHards," he clarified, and I smiled.

"Anyway," I said conversationally, "what happened last night?"

"Oh," he frowned, "um…stuff. You know how it goes…save the world and all that."

"Sokka said you wanted to talk about it today."

"Well, yeah," he said, and suddenly he looked tired, "but not until everyone's around. Lunch hour, you know?"

"Right," I said, but inside I was teeming with questions. Where had the spirit come from? Why was it going after my brother? What was so freaky about it that Aang was this troubled?

Class started within five minutes, and halfway through I noticed that Aang was staring off into space. Not that he didn't do it a lot, he just seemed way more unfocused than usual. I shook his shoulder to make sure he was okay, and he glanced at me and half-smiled. I wrote him a note asking him what was wrong, and he just replied that he'd tell me at lunch. I resigned myself to wait until noon.

Four Nations was odd; from eight-fifteen to three-thirty we were in school on a block schedule, except for third block. Regular blocks were about an hour and a half long. Third block was two hours, but the class part was only an hour long, because the entire school took lunch at once during that first hour. That third block was usually filled with a half-credit class that switched out halfway during the year. Four Nations was also open-campus; being located on a strip helped it out there, because there were restaurants all up and down the street. Our group (consisting of me, Aang, Sokka, Toph, and Zuko, but I didn't know if Zuko would eat with us anymore or not) typically stayed at school, because it was nearly empty and relatively peaceful. Today, though, Aang wanted to eat out. Once we all met up in the courtyard (Zuko included; I had a feeling Aang had asked him to come), he took control.

"Hey, guys," he greeted us. "Let's head down to Sonic or someplace."

"Dude, you live on Sonic as it is," Sokka rolled his eyes. "I say Burger King."

Aang wrinkled his nose (he was a vegetarian), but Toph and Zuko voiced their approval, and Aang gave in. Once we were all crammed into a booth, lunches both brought and bought spread on the table, Aang started talking.

"Okay, I said that something weird had happened, and here it is," he began. "I was talking to the spirit just before it left, and I asked it why it was attacking my friends. It seemed really confused, and I thought that was just because it was disoriented, but as it turns out…it said it was attacking because _I_ told it to."

Sokka's jaw dropped. Mine wasn't any higher. Toph whistled around her milkshake straw. Zuko merely widened his eyes. Aang was busy studying his PBJ, fingering it until the jelly bled from the top.

"But…but that's impossible," I found my voice first. "You wouldn't order spirits to start attacking Sokka and Toph. They're your friends."

"I know," Aang said. "That's why it didn't make any sense. I'm not sure if there's a spirit posing as me in the Spirit World, or what; it doesn't seem likely that one would. There's not a lot of room for trickery in the Spirit World, because it's a world based on truth, essentially. Even Koh's up-front about his faces; he steals them all, fair and square. He doesn't pretend to be anyone else. That's what really bugs me about this."

"Maybe the spirit was confused," Toph suggested. "Like, maybe someone called Lang or something said to go attack things and it thought it heard Aang."

"I'm not really Aang there," Aang shook his head. "I'm just The Avatar to everyone, and that's not exactly an easy title to mix up."

"Well," Zuko said, "we just need to wait until this Aang impostor makes another move. Then we analyze it and see where the clues lead. Does that sound fair?"

"It sounds great," Aang nodded slowly. "I'm just worried that if this thing sends something else after my friends, I'll be too late getting there."

"You're a phone call away, Twinkletoes," Toph grinned. "You got to me and Sokka quick enough."

"My house is right next to Two Bridges," he reminded her. "What if—what if next time, you're out of town or something? Any of you?"

"Then we'll handle ourselves," I said gently. "We're not exactly helpless."

He nodded, finally taking a bite out of his sandwich. "It just bugs me that the spirits can be fooled so easily. I've never known them to be gullible before."

By that statement I knew he was drawing on his past lives' experience, not just his own. Zuko's expression became suddenly pensive.

"My uncle might be able to provide some insight," he said quietly. "He's had dealings with spirits before."

"He has?" Aang asked, surprised. Zuko nodded shortly. "Any thoughts on the subject we can get would be nice, I guess. I asked Roku about it last night, and he just said he couldn't tell me, either."

"Which means that even in the Spirit World it's gotta be pretty quiet and secret," Sokka said suddenly. "If Roku doesn't know about it, then it's got to be some hefty dark mojo going down."

"Well, we'll just have to keep our eyes peeled," Aang shrugged, then winced as Toph kicked him playfully. "And feet," he added, and Toph grinned.

"I'm not much help there, either. I can't see them either way," she pointed out. Sokka nudged her.

"Sure you are," he said. "You can tell us if everyone we see is actually there or not."

"I guess that's true," she conceded. "Someone's coming, by the way."

Right as she said that a boy walked up to our table. He was dressed in a navy t-shirt, with a black leather jacket and dark skinny jeans. His black hair was parted on the side, almost like the emo Peter Parker look from _Spiderman 3_. His glasses were, predictably, black, plastic and chunky and missing the lenses. He smiled at us, and I hesitantly smiled back.

"Um, hi," he said confidently. "I was wondering if I could talk to Toph for a few minutes."

"Why?" she asked bluntly. "I've never seen you before." Her lips curved up at her own joke, and we all laughed with her. "Seriously, though, what do you want?"

Sokka was looking at him with a smirk; he whispered something in Toph's ear, who adopted a similar wide smile. None of this deterred the boy, who merely smoothed his hair and kept his smile charming.

"I just want to talk," he said. "My name's Lee Yu. I just moved in last week. I was told you were the girl to go to for a tour around campus."

Her expression became even more wickedly mirthful. "What nut told you that?"

He merely shrugged, and Toph waited patiently for him to say something else. When he didn't she spoke again. "Look, what's-your-face, I don't have time to babysit you. Just look at the map of the campus that's in your student planner and stay away from karaoke, okay?"

Lee Yu flushed, and I had the impression that they had met before, after all. He managed to keep a polite tone and expression. "Okay, then. Um, see you around, I guess."

"I wouldn't count on it," Toph said dismissively, and Lee Yu walked away. I looked at Toph.

"He was cute," I said, and she snorted. "What did you mean about the karaoke?"

"He was at Karaoke Night at Two Bridges last night," Sokka cut in. "He was really, really bad, eh, Toph?"

"The biggest schmuck I've ever heard in my life," she said carelessly, slurping down the last of her milkshake. "Are we ready to go back to school yet?"

"Never," Sokka said rebelliously, and we all laughed.

* * *

><p>Friday, finally, of the first week of the winter semester. There was an audible sigh of relief through the school, and I waited by the fountain for Sokka. He came striding up, chatting animatedly with Toph as always, gesticulating about something large with his hands. At one point he grabbed Toph's hands to show her how big something or other was, and I saw the faint blush steal across her cheeks as he did so. She was getting really good at hiding it now, but I frowned. Sokka was single now, and Toph was the next best candidate to fill the empty space under his arm. She should be laying on the hints, not hiding.<p>

As it turned out, they were talking about meat. Again. Sokka was regaling her with a tale about a salami the size of his arm that he'd eaten all at once, and she was watching (sort of; her face was turned towards him) with an interested expression.

"And you didn't barf?" she was saying as they came within earshot. "Impressive, meathead, impressive."

"I was sick for a week, though," Sokka said, puffing his chest out. "I thought Coach was going to kill me when I missed a week of practice."

"Toph, do you want to have a Girl's Night Out with me?" I found myself saying before I'd really thought about it. Toph paused, a horrified expression crossing her face.

"Makeup and nail polish and girly chick-flicks? No thanks," she snorted. I prepared to wheedle.

"Oh, come on, Toph, it's just one night of femininity. You can deal."

"No."

She glared at me, and I glared back. "Please, Toph? There'll be ice cream and junk food out the whazoo."

She paused, then sighed. "No nail polish."

"No nail polish," I agreed, grinning. "Anyone else you think I should invite?"

"Invite to what?" Aang asked interestedly, and I smiled at him.

"Girls' Night," I replied, and he stuck his tongue out immediately.

"Just the two of us should be quite enough," Toph said grumpily, and I had to laugh.

"Okay, okay, just the two of us," I agreed, feeling smug. "Do you want to ride home with us, or—?"

"Sure," she replied quickly. "I'll just need to swing by my house to pick up some stuff. That okay?"

"It's fine," Sokka said. "You might want to tell Sanji, though."

Toph pulled out her phone and walked away for a little privacy. Aang turned to Sokka.

"You can crash at my place if there are too many girls for you," he offered. "Zuko's coming over later to play a little _Call of Duty._"

"Sounds awesome," Sokka agreed eagerly, and I nearly sighed in relief. That would leave me and Toph free to talk about what we needed to, which would be hard enough without Sokka eavesdropping and making it awkward.

"Okay," Toph said, snapping her phone shut, "we're good to go."

Sokka decided to go ahead and go with Aang, giving me the keys to the Jeep and warning me to be very careful with his baby. I rolled my eyes, and we left, navigating out of the crowded parking lot. Traffic was a little crazier than usual, it being Friday and all, so it took almost twenty minutes to reach the Bei Fong estate on the edge of town. As always, the sheer grandeur of it took my breath away; it easily outshone all the other houses in the neighborhood (not that there was much of one; the house and grounds took up forty acres, at least), with a long, winding drive culminating in a fine stone court surrounding a huge fountain twice the size of the school's. It was more of a small swimming pool than a water feature.

"I'll be just a sec," Toph promised, hopping out and running up the stairs to her house. She opened the door herself (the guards learned long ago that she wanted to do things herself; the place had iguards/i, for Pete's sake. Could the Bei Fongs be any more paranoid?) and disappeared inside. After about ten minutes she emerged, her grungy backpack no longer bulging with books, looking much lighter. She had a sour expression, though, when she climbed back into the passenger seat.

"Mom was all excited," she said in a bored tone, and I smiled. Mrs. Bei Fong was nice enough, but her enthusiasm was likely a factor in ensuring Toph didn't want to do anything. She cast me a sour look.

"Oh, stop it," I chided. "You're going to have fun, okay? My dad's working tonight and Sokka's off with the guys, so it's not like any males are going to see you all done up and pretty."

She groaned, and I laughed. "Unless you want to go surprise the boys…?"

She shook her head violently, and I smiled again. To tell the truth, I wouldn't want to, either, but I did want to get out of the house at some point during the night, just to showcase Toph to some part of the public. She was really very pretty, but she didn't know it at all. Or maybe she did, but didn't want anyone else to know.

Once we were situated and properly clothed in pajamas, I looked in the freezer for any sort of snack items.

"Pizza rolls sound good?" I asked, and Toph, who was running her finger over the spines of some DVDs I'd gotten down, nodded, for the first time losing her sourpuss grimace. I put the pizza rolls in the oven and flounced next to her in our already-pillow and blanket-strewn mess. "We've got a wide selection of movies here, but are you sure you don't want a chick flick?"

She gave a martyred sigh. "If you must," she lamented, and I put in _Made of Honor_, a movie I had a feeling would put her in the mood for our later conversation. I was right; her expression got more and more forlorn as the story unfolded. We ate the pizza rolls and drank all my dad's Dr. Pepper and talked and laughed, and, not for the first time since meeting Toph, I was glad there was another girl in our group of friends, even if she was as brash and crude as the boys sometimes. I couldn't let my hair down around them and talk openly about girly things (and though it was a struggle at first, once Toph got going it was easy to talk to her about all kinds of stuff). She even let me take down her customary bun (more of a looped ponytail than an actual bun, but it was cute, regardless) and brush her hair out. At the end of the movie she sighed, burying her head in her knees. I looked up from where I was preparing the makeup, startled.

"Toph, are you okay?" I asked. She grunted.

"Your brother's really stupid," she mumbled, and I grinned.

"Of course he is," I agreed. "Did he do something particularly dumb, though?"

"No," she shook her head. "It's just…well, now he's not wrapped around Suki anymore, and I'm wondering if things are going to change between us. So far, they're the same, except Sokka is spending way more time with me. I know he's just trying to get over Suki by avoiding being by himself, but it's making me kinda nervous."

"Nervous that he's spending time with you?" I asked, my eyebrow raised.

"No, nervous that he's using me as a crutch," she explained, and I nodded. That made sense. "If…if he ever does develop feelings for me, I don't want it to be because I happened to be free when he broke up with his girlfriend. I want it to be because he actually likes me, you know?"

"Yep," I nodded. "I understand perfectly. Maybe you should find another guy to hang out with. Make him jealous if he actually does start liking you and stuff like that."

"But what if he decides to stop liking me because he thinks I'm into another guy?" she asked, and I shrugged.

"I didn't say it wasn't a gamble," I replied. "But, if I know Sokka, he's not going to stop liking you just because you're showing interest in someone else. If he really, really likes you, he's going to fight for you. He's done it before."

"I hate to hurt another guy's feelings by leading him on," she said next, and then her face got an evil smile. I looked at it nervously. "Actually, I don't. Not at all."

"Who are you thinking about?" I asked, and she giggled.

"Lee Yu was just tripping all over himself to talk to me, wasn't he?" she asked, and I smiled. "The guy's a total loser. I don't like him at all, and therefore I don't have any problems with using him. Does that sound awful?"

"Completely," I nodded. "You should go for it. To tell the truth, the guy was kinda creeping me out." Not that I noticed at the time; it was only after reviewing the conversation that I noticed something fishy about him. I couldn't place it, but he reminded me of a shark, for some reason.

The evil expression suddenly turned innocent, and then I was on my guard. "So," she said in a falsely cheery voice, "how are things with you and Twinkletoes?"

"Me and Aang?" I asked, completely taken aback. What did Aang have to do with anything?

"Yeah. You know, six foot, scrawny, dark hair, grey eyes, puppy-dog expression?" I knew she was only describing his looks because that's how Sokka once described him to her, and I flushed. "Oh, come on, Sweetness, you can't honestly say you've never noticed how bad he's got it for you."

To tell the truth, I hadn't. I'd seen him blush occasionally when I complimented him, but other than that, he was the perfect best friend. I just chalked it up to his sweet personality. At my silence Toph sighed deeply.

"Honestly," she said, "what is it with you Kuruks and being oblivious?"

I flushed. I hadn't realized that I was just as guilty of thoughtlessness as my brother. That stung a little. And now it made things awkward. How was I going to be able to face Aang without thinking about that now?

"Thanks, Toph," I found myself saying, a little more sarcastically than I meant. She shrugged.

"Would you rather I told you, or let you blunder around it like Sokka?" she asked bluntly, and I stopped to think.

"Um…I guess I'd rather you told me, but knowing just makes things more complicated," I explained. "I'm not sure how to talk to Aang now."

"Same as you always do," she shrugged. "It's not like knowing someone likes you makes them act any differently than usual; you just happen to read more into their actions than is probably there."

"True," I admitted, relieved that she'd managed to say something to make me relax. Aang was the same sweet, adorable kid I knew, he was just a little more revealed now.

"It's weird," I said, "but I still think of Aang like that little twelve-year-old playing by himself in the park."

"Have you seen him recently? Not that I have," she chuckled, "but you get what I mean. I was just kidding when I called him scrawny, because from what I can tell when he walks, he's a lot more built than he was just a year ago. And he's freakin' _tall_. You're, what, five-five? Five-six? You used to be a lot taller than him, and now he's towering over us both."

"Yeah," I said slowly; I'd noticed Aang's growth spurt, as well. He was quickly becoming the tallest out of all of us.

"And his voice has stopped cracking every other word," she went on. "And he has to shave regularly now, and do you know what all of this adds up to?"

"Yes," I sighed, "I know. He's not a little kid anymore. Point taken."

"You know what, I change my mind," Toph said, getting to her feet and feeling at her hair. "Let's get glamified and crash their party."

"Zuko's there," I said tentatively. I didn't want to run into my ex yet, not when the peace between us was still so fragile. I kept feeling like he was going to explode at me every time we were in the same proximity. She _tsked_.

"I offer you the chance of a lifetime, and you pass it up because Zuko's there?" she asked impatiently. "Jeez, Katara, grow up and get over it. You're the one that put an end to it—rightfully so, finally, at long last—and now you need to grow up and take the consequences. Zuko's usually pretty fast on the rebound, anyway. Give it another month and he'll be back to being buddy-buddy like old times." She held out the long length of her hair. "Now fix this, please; I can feel all kinds of kinks and tangles."

I grinned and obliged. By the time we were both ready to go, it was about seven, perfectly early enough to stop by Aang's and then go out on the town. Maybe see another movie. Toph's hair was down, something she never did, and straightened so it was soft beyond belief. Her sidesweep bangs were pulled out of her eyes with a large hair flower, yellow to bring out the green in her eyes and to go with the yellow shirt of mine she was borrowing (I was a size or so bigger than she was, but she was chestier than me and could pull off most of my wardrobe). Her jeans and shoes were hers (she had to see where she was going, after all), and the overall effect was very nice, especially when coupled with just enough makeup to make her eyes a little bigger and put some shine and color in her lips. Me, I went for the smoky-eyes red-lips look, dressing in red and doing my absolute best to look…well, my best. If what Toph said was true, I wanted to check for myself by gauging Aang's reaction more carefully when I was looking hot. Not to say I'm conceited about my looks, I just know that I'm pretty good-looking when I try.

"Okay," I said, slipping into some black heels, "let's go crash."

The drive over there was _fun_; the atmosphere was charged with our excitement and the radio seemed to reflect it, playing good song after good song. Yes, it was a good night to be a girl and wonderfully, gloriously single. We pulled up to Aang's apartment and took the elevator, patiently clicking our heels together and bursting into random giggles (which was a new thing for Toph, but I could tell she was enjoying herself anyway). We sauntered down the hallway, and even from ten feet away the yells and groans were perfectly audible. As we approached the door Sokka swore loudly, while Aang cheered and ran about his apartment, yelling something like "Eat it! Eat it!"

"Hey," Toph yelled as we walked through the front door. "Who's winning?"

At our entrance all activity ceased, and three pairs of male eyes gawked at us. Zuko recovered first, shutting his mouth and trading it for a grin.

"How'd you manage to get Toph to stand still long enough, Katara?" he asked, and Toph smirked at him.

"I can let Sugar Queen work when I feel like it," she retorted. Then she softened. Very well done, I noticed, as it made her look more unsure and nervous as she turned her head towards Sokka. "It…it looks okay, though, right?"

Sokka still hadn't recovered; he looked like he was seeing her for the first time in his life. While he gaped, I flashed my eyes at Aang, who had a silly smile plastered on his face. I felt heat creep into my cheeks as Toph's words echoed in my head, and I smiled back at him, now wondering what in the world I was thinking by wearing a shirt quite so low-cut as this one. Not that it was outrageous, but I saw Aang's eyes flick up and down my body when he thought I wasn't looking. At least, I hope he thought I wasn't looking, because I never thought Aang would be the type to openly scan a girl's body like some kind of pervert. Then I remembered the reason for my experiment and looked away. I'd seen enough. It was Sokka I focused on now.

His jaw was still working, and Toph looked honestly worried now. Finally he walked up to her, sizing her up.

"It looks…" he swallowed. "You look like a girl, Toph."

She punched him in the stomach, none too gently. He grunted and bent a little.

"That's what I am, doofus," she replied, though judging by her smile she was gratified.

"I know, but…you…you look pretty," he finished lamely, flinching away as her hand came up again. But this time she merely stretched up on her tiptoes to pat the top of Sokka's head. He frowned.

"Thanks," she said, as though talking to a small child. "We were about to go out and about and just wanted to check in on you guys. Everything going okay?"

"You're going out in public like that?" Sokka asked, alarmed as he finally looked at me, then back to Toph. She raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," she replied, her voice dripping with strained patience. I looked back at Aang. He was still looking at me, but this time with a straight face, almost solemn. For a second I looked at his eyes and saw, with a jolt of surprise, more heat in them than I'd ever seen in anyone's before. They cooled a second after they registered I was looking at him, and he smiled in his friendly way.

"Well, have fun," he said in a voice that made a valiant effort to be carefree, but at Toph's smirk I knew that she sensed the same thing I did: Aang didn't like the thought of us (or me, I suppose) going out where other guys could see us.

That really made me want to do it more.

Zuko's smile was broad, like he was just laughing at all of us. He nodded shortly as I looked at him, but his smile didn't falter. That's when I relaxed. Everything was cool between us, in every sense of the word.

"But—but—there are—monkeys!" Sokka invented wildly, and I knew he was trying everything and anything he could to keep the both of us indoors. His newfound protectiveness over Toph was intriguing and very, very satisfying after our conversation tonight. "Wild, rabid monkeys that like—uh—yellow! You should definitely not leave until you have somebody with you, yessir."

"Sokka," Toph said plainly, "while your concern is touching, I can kick any rabid monkey's butt into next week, makeup or no makeup. Don't you dare treat me like you've never seen me fight before just because I look differently than normal."

"But you look _amazing_!" He said it like it was a bad thing. "Do you know how many loserface dweebs will be crawling all over you?"

"As many as will get their faces broken that try," she replied, and by her lazily amused tone, I knew she was enjoying baiting Sokka immensely. "We're leaving now, okay? Play nice."

I couldn't stop myself from laughing at Sokka's expression as we left. I looked back at Aang. He was biting his lip, and I was suddenly reminded of Toph. It made me want to blush again.

"Hey," he said suddenly, "you look beautiful."

I grinned at him. "Thanks, Aang, that means a lot."

And then we shut the door and left.

"Best girls' night _ever_," Toph laughed, and I laughed right along with her.

* * *

><p>AN: Yay. Katara. :D And, come on, you KNOW Aang would have a rabid fangirl club if he was in the modern day. Poor kid can't catch a break. :D

For those of you confused, "I can't tell you" sometimes is another way of saying "I don't know." Pay close attention to Roku's words, kiddies. He's as bad as any Aes Sedai (Google it. I don't fee like explaining my semi-obscure reference).

Girl's Night Out, YEEEAH! And overprotective!Sokka comes out to party again. XD

Well, that about wraps up my thoughts for the night. Stay frosty. :)


	7. Chapter 6: Aang

Chapter Six

NEW MESSAGE: [None]

FROM: Aang

hey any creeps flag u down yet?

NEW MESSAGE: Re: [None]

FROM: Katara

no we're fine tell sokka to stop txting toph because she's getting a good laugh out of it

NEW MESSAGE: Re: Re: [None]

FROM: Aang

ha ha ok enjoy the movie

* * *

><p>Aang's Playlist<p>

Song: C_herry Pie_

Artist: _Warrant_

* * *

><p>Holy crap, holy crap, holy <em>freaking<em> crap, she's so hot, she's so freakin' _hot_…

Such were my eloquent thoughts when Katara walked through my door. Every fuse in my brain fizzled out. I felt like I'd died and gone to heaven. She didn't say much; it was mostly Sokka and Toph who had their little argument, which I didn't listen to. I was too busy staring at his sister. She looked at me a couple of times and smiled, and I had to make sure my expression didn't give any of my inner feelings away. I thought of anything that would distract me. _She's your best friend, she's your other best friend's sister, she's off-limits, she's pretty, she's so very pretty, she's looking at me…_ As you can imagine, it didn't work quite so well as I thought it would. She was leaving before I realized I hadn't said anything to her about how she looked, and it blurted out of me before I could stop myself.

"Hey, you look beautiful," I said, and I was surprised how steady my voice sounded. My legs felt like jelly, and as she smiled and closed the door, I hobbled around my armchair and collapsed into it, completely weak from the effort of not moving and doing anything stupid. As I slowly exhaled, Sokka whirled around at me and Zuko (who was shaking with silent laughter, at me, I imagine).

"Did you know Toph was a girl?" he asked stupidly, and we both looked at each other and burst out laughing. Zuko actually fell off the couch, he was laughing so hard.

"You guys should see your faces," he gasped, and I carefully avoided looking at Sokka. "You'd think you'd never seen them all dolled up before."

"It was kinda unexpected, after all the testosterone that's been flying around here," I said sagely, trying hard to cover up my embarrassment. "And we've never seen Toph dolled up."

"She's a _girl!_" Sokka yelled again, and Zuko and I looked at him pityingly. "I mean, I knew she was a girl, but she—she—"

"Sokka," Zuko said, "are you actually more worried about Toph than you are your sister? I mean, she was the one wearing the shirt that kinda…" he made a jerking, slashing motion towards his chest, and Sokka wheeled around, suddenly angry.

"How'd you notice that? Are you goggling my sister?" he asked aggressively, and Zuko held his hands up as another bout of laughter crippled him.

"No," he finally managed to get out, "I just happened to look at both girls instead of just Toph."

Sokka adopted an uncertain expression and sat on the edge of the couch. I glanced at him as I picked up my controller again.

"Everything okay, Sokka?" I asked, and he shook his head slowly.

"I'm not sure," he said, scratching his scalp. He shook himself and picked up his own. "Okay, Aang, get ready to feel the fury." He used his hands to press his forelock back into its little peak. "Fear the brohawk, man, fear the brohawk!"

"I fear nothing!" I spat haughtily. "Especially not that weaksauce Mohawk wanna-be!"

The rest of the night dissolved into concentrated carnage, with all three of us checking our phones and texting periodically (or, in Sokka's case, every five seconds to make sure the girls were okay). I glanced at Zuko.

"Who're you texting?" I asked, and he glanced at me.

"Mai," he said shortly. He didn't elaborate, and I didn't ask.

It was close to two AM before we finally got hungry enough to stop, and we all decided to go out and grab some Taco Bell. I texted Katara to see if she and Toph were still out and about, and, to my surprise, they were. After arranging for them to meet us, we drove to Taco Bell and hustled inside the restaurant out of the freezing cold. The girls were already there, munching placidly on burritos and tacos and the like. We ordered (I got two bean and cheese burritos and a couple of cheese roll-ups; vegetarian, you know) and sat down with them, and Sokka immediately began grilling them about what they'd done.

"We didn't do much," Katara rolled her eyes. "We just saw a movie and drove to the beach and back. Nothing major."

"No boys?" Sokka asked suspiciously, and Toph actually laughed.

"Why so paranoid, Snoozles?" she asked, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously. I stared at her. Was she finally going to be open about her feelings? Sokka, as usual, didn't get the hint, and merely glowered and kept silent. "If it'll make you feel better, yes, we walked into the men's room at a modeling agency and proceeded to make out with each and every one of them."

"Not funny," Sokka said flatly, shooting Katara a look. She grinned at him, and he sighed, his foul mood leaking away. "Maybe a little funny."

"That's the spirit," Toph nodded. "Twinkletoes, hand over your cheese roll-ups."

"You're only halfway through a half-pound beef burrito," I pointed out, but her hand didn't waver, so I grudgingly forked over one of my two roll-ups, quickly stuffing the other in my mouth. "So, guys, want to go out and do something else?"

"What movie did you guys go see?" Zuko asked, and Katara hurriedly swallowed a sip of soda to wash down her taco (would it help if I mentioned how unbelievably sexy she looked doing that?).

"_The Forbidden Kingdom_," she replied. "It was playing at the dollar theatre and Toph had no objections."

"Worst movie I've ever heard in my life," Toph snorted.

"That's only because you couldn't see Jackie Chan and Jet Li in action," I countered. "If you could see all the crazy stunts they were pulling, you'd be saying something different."

"Jackie Chan and Jet Li are gods," Sokka said reverently, holding up his Dr. Pepper as though toasting them. "Second only to Chuck Norris."

"And we all know who he checks under his bed for," I grinned, and Toph slouched back in her chair, crossing her arms and looking decidedly "pimp." (Uh...is that how you use that word? I'm not entirely sure...um...let's just say she looked "cool", okay? That work for everyone?)

"That might be worth going and seeing again," Zuko reasoned, glancing over at me. "Anyone but Toph object?"

"If it's a dollar, I'm game," Sokka shrugged. "Is that all that was playing?"

"Some older movies, I can't remember all of them." Katara caught a drip of grease off her finger with her tongue (_sweet, sweet goddess of ultimate hotness, be mine!_). "I think _The Princess Bride_ might have been playing."

"We must go immediately!" Sokka declared, standing up. "It would be utterly inconceivable not to go!"

"Hello!" Toph yelled suddenly (the Taco Bell was empty, so she could. Not that if it was full it would have made much of a difference to her). "My name is Inigo Montoya!"

"You killed my father!" we all joined in; we couldn't help it. The movie is a classic. "Prepare to die!"

"I think it shall be the other way around," a soft voice said, and suddenly the table erupted, blowing off its bolts and shooting into the roof. We all were blasted backwards; Toph and Katara, who were against the wall, were shoved to the sides of the bench. Things continued to explode around us, until I could orient myself enough in the wreckage to see what it was that was causing the damage. A spirit, obviously, but what kind?

A small girl stood in the middle of the restaurant, her skin a shimmering dark brown. Her hair was neatly braided in multiple plaits, and she was dressed in an unobtrusive pink dress, but her eyes were a blank white. As her eyes locked with mine the tile beneath my feet burst upwards, and only quick airbending saved me from slamming against the ceiling or walls. I calmed myself down, reaching instinctively for the Avatar state. The influx of sudden power and experience let me know I was in it; before I mastered it, I would black out for periods of time, unaware of what exactly I was doing. Now I was completely conscious, in control of my actions. I could tell that whatever she was doing to explode the room was a form of earthbending, so when her eyes roamed to cause another stream of devastation, I smoothed the concrete and tile where she was trying to disrupt. She turned back to me, and I walked calmly up to her, reaching for her head. Not to hurt her, just to get a hold of the center of her activity.

She ducked out from under my arm, and another explosion occurred. This one was accompanied by a scream, one that cut to my heart. I couldn't tell who it was, but the fact that someone was hurt was cause enough. I caught hold of her braids (the spirits became corporeal when they entered our world in a form everyone could see, not just those of us with connections to the Spirit World) and yanked her in front of me, clapping my hands on either side of her head over her ears and locking eyes with her.

Quite suddenly we were both suspended in time and space, floating in brightness. Her true form was revealed in this place, which I liked to call Limbo, a special area that bordered between the Spirit World and the real one, like an extension of the Avatar state. She was actually a pygmy badger mole spirit, but her dark fur and white eyes showed where her human form had gotten its look.

"Why are you here causing problems?" I asked, but not really with words. Communicating here wasn't like talking; it was more willing the meaning of what you wanted to convey into being, and the person you were "talking" to understood you exactly. There was little room for miscommunication when talking was this precise. She looked at me for a moment, her head cocked, and I sensed her puzzlement.

"The Avatar has sent me," she said. "She has said to cause destruction and chaos. Have I not done well?"

"I'm the Avatar," I pointed out, "and I'm a he." Technically the Avatar was both genders, but my current incarnation took on a masculine spirit form. Her head was still cocked, studying me with her blank eyes.

"I have been deceived?" she asked, but it was more like she was asking if there was a lie existing in the Spirit World. I nodded.

"I am the Avatar," I repeated, "and I do not order for any chaos. Go home, protect your dwelling. There is no need to hurt anyone here."

She nodded, disappearing, and with my physical eyes I saw the same had happened to the girl. As the Avatar state lifted, the familiar weakness caused me to lean against the counter, and I turned around to take in the damage.

Katara was sitting on the rubble (which, now that panic wasn't clouding my mind, wasn't quite as bad as I'd supposed), her ankle wrapped up in glowing blue healing water. Toph was repairing the walls, restoring the building, but the décor would have to wait for someone more experienced. Sokka and Zuko were explaining to a still-hyperventilating night staff what had happened (Sokka with far too many sound effects to be understood). I pushed myself off the counter, forcing my legs to move despite their feeling like jelly, and helped Toph out, smoothing out the floor. Katara said something to me, but I refused to speak or even listen to anything until my first mindless task was complete. Then I set about returning the tables and chairs and benches to their proper place, locating the screws and replacing them with a little metalbending (I wasn't anywhere near as good as Toph, but proficient enough for a small job like this). All at once I had four different people trying to get my attention, but I ignored them until I'd gone to the staff and apologized for the trouble. It was my fault, after all.

"No problem," the faint-voiced cashier managed. "No trouble at all. Um, thanks for fixing up the store, I guess. We can explain everything to our manager in the morning."

"What," Toph said shakily, "in the _crap_ was that?"

"More trouble," I grunted. I quickly explained my interaction with the spirit to the others, and they looked properly troubled, Katara most of all.

"She?" she repeated, as I had, and frowned deeply. "That doesn't make any sense. Shouldn't the spirits know what the gender of the current Avatar is?"

"They should," I agreed, "which is why this is freaky."

"I'll say," Sokka said fervently. "So, anyone still up for that movie?"

My initial reaction was "no way," but the others seemed to want something to get their minds off of the weirdness, and I went along, however listlessly. For once in my life, I wasn't paying attention at all to _The Princess Bride_, and Katara, on my right, noticed. She took my hand and squeezed it comfortingly, and I glanced at her and smiled. She didn't let my fingers go, and after that it was hard to concentrate on anything at all.

* * *

><p>AN: Hey, guys. We return to Aang. :D Moar spirits, Taco Bell, brohawks, and Princess Bride references, oh my!

Review and let me know if you likey or whatever. :)


	8. Chapter 7: Zuko

Chapter Seven

_One New Voicemail_

_Hello, this is the Republic City Mental Hospital with an update on your sister, Azula. She's ready to go as soon as you come and pick her up. Her official release date is March seventh, which is this Tuesday. We're sorry we missed you. Thank you!_

* * *

><p>Zuko's Playlist<p>

Song: _How to Save a Life_

Artist: _The Fray_

* * *

><p>Since that insanity in January, things had been pretty quiet. No major spirit attacks or social upheavals, which was kind of nice The weather was warming up as we edged into March, and with it came something I hadn't expected to deal with: Azula's release from the crazy house.<p>

Not that I never thought she was getting out, I just…never…thought she was getting out…um…okay, so I didn't think I would have to come to terms with my psycho baby sister, sure. Uncle's been going crazy getting the apartment all prepared for her; he actually bought a three-room apartment for that exact reason (or so he tells me). Me, I'm not sure if this is actually a good thing or not. I purposely didn't pick up my phone when the hospital called, but Iroh, nosy old geezer that he is, listened to my voicemail before I did and got all excited that she was coming home.

"This is a good opportunity," he kept telling me (over and over and over). "You and Azula have a second chance, something I will never get with Ozai. He is my brother, and for that reason alone I still love him, but the fact that he is still walking around scot-free bothers me. Azula has undergone the best of treatment, and if they feel that she is well, she must be."

I wasn't so sure.

It was bugging me all through school on the day I was supposed to pick her up, so much so I attracted some unwanted attention by the time the school day was over.

"What's wrong?" Toph asked flatly. I cut my eyes at her.

"Nothing," I finally said.

"Bullcrap." She punched my arm. "You've been moping all day. Sunshine is looking like Ty Lee compared to you right now."

I fought a smile at Toph's nickname for Mai. "Really, it's nothing."

"Uh-huh. And I'm a cupcake princess," she rolled her eyes. "I can tell when you're lying, dipstick. Just spit it out."

"Leave it alone, Toph," I warned.

"Hmm, what's the word I'm looking for...? Oh, yeah. No."

I growled in frustration. "I don't want to talk about it!"

"Yes, you do!" she retorted, and I scowled.

"Fine," I grumbled. "Azula's getting released today."

"From rehab?" she asked, and I nodded. "Well, if they think she's well enough—"

"She could be faking," I stood, pacing around the parking lot. "She's really good at lying. She fooled you, Toph, remember? Things are going okay for me, finally, and I don't want her to screw it up!"

"Well, technically, since you broke up with Katara, your life sucks," she informed me, and I rolled my eyes. Me and Katara were completely cool again. Maybe a little more awkward than before, but that was to be expected. "Look at it this way: even if she _is_ lying, for the first day or so she'll be pumped with tranqs. So, just take it slow and be the loving big brother I know you can be."

I stared up at the grey sky. "She used to be really sweet, when we were kids," I murmured. "Around age five she turned into a little menace."

"Well, maybe she changed," Toph shrugged. "You did."

I silently contemplated her words. She punched me again.

"Don't write her off until she stabs you in the back," she grinned, and rejoined Sokka at his car. As he drove away, I felt someone slip next to me. Mai.

"Hey." She leaned against my car. "Heard Azula's getting out today."

"Yep." I hadn't thought about the fact that Mai and Ty Lee would want to see her. They were her only friends, after all.

"Need moral support?" she monotoned, and I grinned.

"Sure." I spun my keys around my finger. "Ty Lee coming?"

"Haru's driving her," Mai shrugged. "Your old man coming?"

"No, he doesn't care now that she's supposedly normal," I grimaced.

"Do you think the rehab was good for her?" she asked as I started the car. I pursed my lips.

"I don't know," I answered. "I hope so."

We didn't speak until we were at the hospital, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. It was our kind of quiet—companionable and blessedly peaceful. Ty Lee was already there, twirling around the flagpole. We walked up to meet her.

"Hi, Zuko!" She hugged me, and I hesitantly hugged her back. "Are we ready to go up?"

We nodded, and together the three of us walked inside. I hated hospitals. Too clean and white and sterile. It reminded me of one of the terrible nannies Dad tried to impose on us after Mom left.

"Excuse me," I walked up to the receptionist's desk, "My sister's supposed to be getting released from the psych ward today. Could you tell me...?"

She popped her gum and tapped her mouse. "Name?"

"Azula Sozin," I replied. She tapped some more.

"Upstairs to the left," she pointed. "She's waiting on you."

I swallowed hard and made my way up the stairs, Mai and Ty Lee on either side of me. I paused before I opened the door to the second floor, suddenly scared. Mai's long fingers laced with mine, and I clutched her hand like it was a lifeline.

"It'll be okay," Ty Lee whispered, and I nodded. I took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

She was sitting in a wheelchair next to a man in a white coat, her hair long and clean and her hands in her lap. She watched me as I approached, and I was totally blown away. There was no malice, no calculation, no fake innocence I learned early on to detect. She was just...sad.

"You came," she said, and she sounded surprised.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I brought you a change of clothes. Figured it'd be better than a hospital gown or whatever they dress you in."

I took slow, tentative steps towards her, and she watched me just as warily. I knelt down to her level and put her clothes in her lap. We didn't move or speak for a while, analyzing each other. To my shock, she offered the first hesitant smile.

"Thanks." She inspected my clothing choice. I had picked out a pair of jeans and an old t-shirt from our last family vacation before Mom left. It was her treat, a day at the beachside carnival. Azula won the shirt by hitting the bull's-eye in a firebending contest. At eight, it was too big for her, but at sixteen, it should fit her fine. She touched the faded front, smiling sadly.

"Thanks," she said again, and I knew she was thanking me for more than the clothes. "I'll go change."

She ducked into the lobby bathroom. I belatedly remembered that she probably needed shoes, but Mai pressed a pair of flip-flops into my hand.

"I figured you'd forget," she whispered, and I grinned.

Ty Lee and Mai moved to stand beside me as Azula came out, fully dressed, and she froze and stared at them. Ty Lee ventured a smile.

No words needed to be said between the girls, apparently, because in a second the three of them were hugging each other tightly. Their friendship was whole.

"See you at school?" Mai asked, and Azula smiled.

"Bright and early Monday," she promised. The girls hugged again, and Mai and Ty Lee left, Mai squeezing my arm on her way out. I assumed Haru was waiting up.

"Want to grab something to eat?" I asked. She nodded, slipping into Mai's flip-flops (I noticed Mai had left barefooted, and smothered a grin). We left in a hurry, both of us eager to be out of there.

"Wendy's?" I asked, and she smiled. My heart almost stopped; I knew that devious little smile. But the evil glint in her eye I usually associated with it was gone. Playful, yes, but not malicious.

"Sounds good," she replied. "I could eat a horse right now."

I grinned and pulled in.

As it turned out, she ate an entire triple Baconator by herself. And a large Frosty. And an order of fries. And all of my fries. I tried not to grin as she wolfed it all down.

"So," she said conversationally, "what's new?"

"Um...well, Katara and I were dating for a few months, but we broke up," I swirled my straw around my Frosty. "Spirits from beyond the grave are making a comeback. Sokka and Suki broke up. Homework. Projects. Basically, life."

She nodded slowly. "Katara's the waterbender?"

I nodded. I forgot that she wasn't as familiar with my friends as I was with hers.

"So," I said, "uh...how are you?"

She was silent for a long time.

"I'm...better," she frowned. "It was more my own conclusion than anything the doctors did. I was tired of fighting for everything. I've always known good from bad, really, but the bad seemed to be the way to get what I wanted." She snorted. "I don't know what it is I want, but doing all the wrong things made me feel like, somehow, I was getting a bigger pay-off. All I did was drive myself crazy, make your life hellish, and push my mother away. I'm just...just _so tired_ of being alone. It's not going to be easy, but I want to make the change. Like you did."

I frowned. "That's great, Azula, it really is, but making the change, as you call it...it's not an overnight process. It's a long, hard, soul-searching journey." I reached across the table and took her hand. "And I'm going to be there for you every step of the way, baby sis."

She smiled, tearing up. At that moment, I knew for a fact she was being genuine. For all of her skill, Azula could never fake tears. She used to think crying was below her, even if it accomplished some end. Scared, she could do. Sad, she could do. Crying? Uh, no.

"Thanks, Zuko," she wiped her eyes hurriedly. "Father's not going to be happy his favorite child is taking after the better half of the family."

"He already knew this would happen," I shrugged. "Why do you think he didn't bother trying to come pick you up today? You can move in with me and Uncle, if you would like."

She nodded slowly. "Are you going to finish that?" I snorted and pushed the rest of my Frosty towards her, into which she dumped the rest of my fries and stirred it up. We bantered back and forth about that, and I felt eleven years of misery starting to melt away. I never noticed before, but in her dry way, Azula was funny. I felt bad that I had never tried to encourage her humor before, but, then, before now, her humor consisted of lighting something alive on fire and watching it scream.

I would always be grateful for those hard years, though; they made me who I was now. But, even more than that, I was glad to have my little sister back instead of a sociopath.

She was starting school on Monday, which gave her plenty of time to hang out at home with Iroh and get re-acquainted with him. I immediately wondered how the school would react to having her back, and felt like I should talk to her about that.

"You know the school's not going to shut up about this," I said, and Azula nodded, her mischievous smile returned.

"I always did like giving them something to talk about," she said dryly. "I don't expect them to ever forgive me. I was quite the Ice Princess in my heyday, was I not?"

I nodded fervently, and she let a little giggle escape her. At that moment most of my fears were erased. She would be fine, and I would just have to pound whoever wasn't good with my sister.

Not that I would pound _everyone_, just people who picked fights I couldn't prove Azula started. My natural suspicion started creeping in, and I squashed it down firmly. _She's not like that anymore,_ I thought. _Azula doesn't lie. Not anymore. Not like she used to._

I could only pray it was true.

* * *

><p>I jolted out of bed in shock as the fire alarm right outside my door exploded with sound. Down the hall, faint sobs assailed my ears, and I nearly tripped over my own feet in my haste to see what the matter was.<p>

I burst into Azula's room with smoke in my face.

"Wassamatta?" I garbled stupidly, making my way inside. Azula was sitting on the floor, rocking back and forth, crying quietly. In front of her, a charred mass smoldered. I extinguished the flame and shut off the fire alarms.

"Azula? You okay?" I asked cautiously. Tears still flowed from her eyes.

"It didn't fit," she whispered. "It was too big."

"What didn't fit?" I sat next to her on the floor. She leaned against me.

"Shirt," she croaked. "I wanted to wear it for my first day back. It wouldn't fit."

"I'm not surprised," I commented. "You're skin and bone right now. You lost a lot of weight in rehab, more than is healthy, I think. You just need to keep eating and get some of it back. You'll be fine."

Azula nodded slowly, calming down.

"If you're fine with your weight, though," I continued, uncomfortable with her silence, "Ty Lee can take you shopping. You know she's dying to go anyway."

"No," she stood and made her way to her closet. "I can see my ribs. I need more food, like you said." She skimmed her clothes and picked out another blouse, this one meant to be overlarge, and a wide belt to cinch about her waist. "Thanks, Zuzu, I'm okay now."

"Okay." I stood and walked back into my room. "Are you going to be alright today?" I called down the hall, poking my head out. "Y'know, are you going to have a meltdown or something?"

"I'll be fine," she rolled her eyes at me. "I set it on fire because I wanted to, and because you needed to get up."

I shook my head as she smiled mischievously. There was that pranking streak that seemed to mutate into cruelty with the more twisted of our family. I chalked it up to the slight inbreeding practices our family was famous for (nothing major, just a couple of great-grandparents married to cousins and such).

"Thanks," I said wryly, trudging towards the bathroom. "I just love loud sounds and panic in the mornings."

"Must be a family thing," she called, and I could hear the smile in her voice. "Where's Uncle? I would have thought that would wake him up, as well."

"He's either at the tea shop, the school, or still fast asleep," I yelled back. "He's not getting younger, you know."

After that we got ready for school in complete silence, only speaking when she voiced a question about rides to school and I indicated my Camaro. Her eyes started shining as she looked my ride over, with far more attention than she'd paid to it the day before.

It was only then that I belatedly remembered that she'd asked for the exact same car for her birthday before…well…you know. Dad had gotten it for her, too, but when they were both arrested it somehow made its way to me. Can't imagine how that happened.

"Can I drive it?" she asked in a calm voice, but I knew she was teeming with excitement on the inside.

"Not until you're off your pills for good," I shook my head. "Sorry, sis, you'll get your chance. Okay?"

She pouted and I could almost hear a plan being concocted for a shanghaiing of my beloved baby, but got in the car without another question. There was a minor spot of bother concerning the radio, which I gave into with the understanding that since it was her first day of school, I'd humor her.

I did _not_ expect her to put in a CD filled with all her favorite show tunes, or for her to start belting them near-perfectly. I didn't know she knew how to sing. I didn't even know she was into theatre.

"Where did _that_ come from?" I asked, turning down the volume to voice my complete and utter shock. She cast me a slight smile.

"It was part of therapy," she said, and her voice was softer. "I used to be into drama, remember? The doctors said that if I worked on that talent it could be my kind of 'happy place.' So I practiced nearly every day and even put on little shows for the other patients. It made them happy." Her voice got even quieter, and I didn't know what to say. Yeah, I remembered how she had a knack for acting, but I thought it was because she was a manipulative little witch, not because she actually _liked_ it. Well, the more you know….

"Are you _positive_ you're going to be okay?" I asked, anxious as we pulled in. she glanced at me and smiled.

"_Positive_," she mimicked my tone. "If I need anything I've been instructed to see the school nurse, who can give me my medicine to make the voices go away." She rolled her eyes and grinned at me, but I wasn't entirely sure she was joking. I mean, she _had_ been having hallucinations about our mother before she went completely bonkers.

But as we separated, her to find Mai and Ty Lee, me to find Aang and Sokka, I had a peaceful feeling that, yes, she would be alright.

In fact, she'd be just fine.

* * *

><p>AN: Holaaaaa. Zuko chapter, with noncrazy!Azula. I dunno, incurable optimist that I am, and this being the 21st century, I see hope for Azula. Not a lot of people are going to like this or agree with it, but y'know what, it's my story. Deal with it. That being said, the next chapter is breaking form; it's from Azula's perspective. Her one and only, because I really wanted to do one from inside her not-so-insane-homicidal mind. We'll see how it goes.

But, yeah, Zuko. Trying to be the big brother he never could be before. Cool. :D

Review. If'n you're so inclined (it was my birthday yesterday, SO YOU SHOULD).


	9. Chapter 8: Azula

Chapter Eight

_NEW MESSAGE_

_FROM:_ Bee

_SUBJECT:_ WHAT?

jet did u see azulas back 2day?

_NEW MESSAGE_

_FROM:_ Jet

_SUBJECT:_ Re: WHAT?

yah i did. so

_NEW MESSAGE_

_FROM:_ Bee

_SUBJECT:_ Re: Re: WHAT?

I thought u wood b more upset.

_NEW MESSAGE_

_FROM:_ Jet

_SUBJECT:_ Re: Re: Re: WHAT?

why would i care about a washed up spoiled psycho

* * *

><p>Azula's Playlist<p>

Song: _Don't Rain on My Parade_

Artist: _Barbra Streisand_

* * *

><p>I am healthy. I am fine. I do not want to kill anyone. I do not want to cause pain. I do not want to rule the world….<p>

If that's what the mental institutions these days call treatment, they are woefully off-base. Do I want those things anymore? No, no I don't, but not because of _them_. I do hate hospitals. They remind me of this truly horrible (and I mean even for me) nurse Zuko and I once had after Mother….

Mom. She's part of the problem, and I don't feel any bitterness admitting that. Maybe, one day, when Zuko and I find her again, we can make things right, but until then, I'm stuck with all this regret and blame. That's one thing the doctors could never hope to help me with.

Long story short, am I completely healed? No, not hardly, but is anyone, really? Am I going to go crazy and slaughter the town? No. All that is behind me.

It's hard even for me to comprehend just how much I've changed. I used to be this cynical, bratty, borderline-homicidal maniac, but now I'm a cynical, bratty borderline-sane teenage girl. I'm not sure if it's possible for the scars to ever go away, but like Zuko and his scar, I'll come to bear them with a certain amount of pride.

I was good at a lot of things before I snapped, and in the aftermath I've found that I'm still good at most of those things. It just doesn't come quite as easily as before. The only thing I still have unequivocally is my theatre. I say _my_ meaning my own acting skills. I was cast as the lead in the school musical, you know. I wonder if they'll let me back, or if they'll see me as too much of a threat. I'm sure they gave the part to Ta Vo, Ty Lee's older sister (by only a year; Ty Lee's parents had seven daughters, all within a year of each other, all of which with similar looks, and all of which with similar names. Ty Lee can't stand it). She and I have a rivalry deeper and more glorious than mine and Zuko's (that was an exaggeration, in case you missed that), with infinitely better payoff. As a freshman I scored the part of Lady Macbeth in _Macbeth_ (although I suppose that's not so great an accomplishment; among thespians, That Scottish Play is the worst of luck) and beat out Ta Vo (who, in light of the badness of the luck associated with That Scottish Play, probably only tried out because I said I was going to). The production was a success, and although mishaps did happen, they were nothing unmanageable.

What would be truly unmanageable, however, was if Ta Vo managed to steal my part in our upcoming production of _Beauty and the Beast_ (which we could do because Father gave the department enough money for the production; if we were on our regular budget, it would be out of our power). It would be hard enough to convince Madam Wu to let me back into the production without Ta Vo hovering over me, trying to make me upset.

But before I could deal with that mess, I needed to go to Psychology (silence, I can hear your sniggering from here). There was no one in there I really recognized, but there was an empty seat next to a boy in the back who was slung back in his chair, his feet resting on the desk (they were like the science lab desks, big enough for two people to work at comfortably). Everywhere else seemed to be full, and though I didn't want to do it, I made my way towards the boy (who, as I got closer, seemed to have a grass stalk in his mouth) and tried for a cordial smile.

"Hello," I said politely. "May I sit here?"

He looked me over, a frown forming on his face, and shrugged, shifting his feet over to his half of the desk. I resisted the urge to sweep the desk free of his foot dirt and set about putting my things in order. When I started meticulously arranging my pencils so they were in order both by shape and color he spoke.

"Do you have to do that?" he asked, and I was surprised by the testiness of his voice. I looked at him.

"Yes," I replied. "It helps me focus."

"See, anytime I see anyone doing that, I just have this…_urge_…to…" he paused, reached over, and flicked one of my pencils so it was off-kilter. I ground my teeth and returned the pencil to its original position, trying my very best not to be incensed by this. _You knew it was going to be like this,_ I told myself firmly. _Ignore him._

He did it again, and this time I refrained from arranging my pencils, instead scattering them myself with another flick. He looked me over again, something akin to respect in his eyes, but perhaps I was mistaken, for not a moment later did he start arranging them exactly as I had it.

"Would you please stop it?" I asked, in as sweet a voice as I could muster. "That really is quite agitating."

"Really? I would have thought it would be annoying," he replied insolently, and I glared at him. "Fine, I'll cut it out."

We sat in still silence for a moment, and then I decided to try and start off things right. I turned, holding my hand out.

"Azula Sozin," I said smartly, in the way I once did, "pleased to meet you."

He stared at my hand, looked back at my face, and snorted.

"Yeah, right, princess," he turned back to chewing his grass. I was unsure of what had just happened, so I tried again.

"I'm—"

"Yeah, I heard what you said," he rolled his head to look at me again. "I know exactly who you are. We've been in the same grade since kindergarten."

"We have?" I asked, taken aback. I didn't remember him at all.

"Yes, we have," he replied, sounding bored. "But you wouldn't know that, because you're a stuck-up spoiled brat who only cares about herself."

"That's not fair," I said, too quickly and too loudly. I lowered my voice. "I got help for my problems, and I am perfectly capable of functioning like a normal teenager, thank you very much."

"See, I don't think you are," he scratched his chin. "For one thing, you talk like you've been brought up by grammar Nazis. For another," he pulled himself upright and turned to really look me in the eyes, "do you remember your freshman year?"

I nodded, unsure of where he was going with this.

"See, in October of that freshman year," he said, "there was a little dance called Homecoming. And there was this boy, all excited to go, because he was going to ask out the prettiest girl in his class and dance the night away. He slaved away for hours perfecting his asking method, until he was ready to step up to the plate and whisk her off her feet.

"But when he asked her," he said, and his voice got deadly quiet, "she stared at him like he was chewed-up gum under her stiletto heels and laughed in his face."

Now that he mentioned it…he _did_ look somewhat familiar. I frowned, thinking back, until the particular memory he was talking about surfaced. Yes, I remembered him asking me to Homecoming, and what followed. Boys had been asking me to go since August; at the time, it had been no skin off my nose to say no to everyone and even make fun of them to their faces.

"I'm—" I tried, but he got a fiery look in his eyes (which, I must admit, became him) and slammed his hand on the desk.

"Don't you dare say you're sorry," he growled. "I got a better date that year, anyway. It's not about how you crushed my spirit that day. It's about you being a—" he said a word that not even the bravest of people dared call me, and my eyes widened in both shock and anger, "to everyone else! Now you waltz in here—"

"Clap the traps, people, we're starting up," Mr. Bumi, the teacher, announced in his gravelly voice, and my tablemate shot me a look of pure loathing that I returned with no less heat. I couldn't even remember his name, and I hated everything from his messy hair to his slobbery grass to his torn-up shoes. When Mr. Bumi's back was turned, he leaned in closer to me.

"Princess," he breathed, but the way he said it I knew it was an insult.

"Peasant," I returned haughtily. He slammed back into his own chair so hard he toppled over, and I was completely overcome with giggles.

"Is something wrong, Mr. Hong?" Mr. Bumi turned back around, noticed him sprawled on the ground, and started laughing. "That's what you get for leaning your chair back all the time, kid! Now pay attention, we're about to take a journey into…" his voice became mystical and wavy, "_the human mind_!"

"We do that every day," my tablemate returned boredly, and Mr. Bumi merely nodded and smiled.

"Oh, sorry, there, young lady, I forgot!" Mr. Bumi said as his eyes slid over me, and I felt an instant sense of embarrassment. I would have preferred to not be publicly announced. "Kids, welcome Azula Sozin back, would you? She just got done with a six-month study into her own head." He looked at me as though he expected me to say something incredible. "Six months in the loony bin, eh, Azula? How'd it go?"

Everyone in the class was looking at me now, and I swallowed hard. I wasn't used to feeling nervous, but I had often been told it was a normal adolescent emotion. Now that I was cured, I suppose I should have seen this coming. Whatever my inward feelings, I worked hard to regain control over my outside and seem relaxed and poised as ever.

"It went well," I said in a clear voice. "My doctors said my previous unstable state of mind was caused by deep-seated fear, growing from my dysfunctional upbringing and my own Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, which drove me to destructive perfectionism and ambition to do whatever it took to get what I wanted. After six long months of therapy and treatments, the doctors pronounced me to be cured and fit to live amongst civil society." I cut my eyes at my partner at the word "civil," and he snorted a laugh.

"Did you have something you wanted to say, Jet?" Mr. Bumi asked, seemingly enthralled with our interaction. "If you have any problems with Azula, by all means, let's talk it out. Talking is beneficial for the soul and mind, you know!"

Jet shook his head, flicking his hair out of his eyes. "No, no, Mr. Bumi, her analysis seems just right," he said, locking eyes with me. "I'm sure her doctors checked all her symptoms and released her with the best of intentions."

"You're unbelievable!" I shrieked, standing up. I was so angry I could hardly focus on anything. This was a new sensation; I had rarely felt anger this hot and sharp. I couldn't see anything but Jet's smirk. My very eyes felt hot enough to melt out of my skull, and that's when I knew I would get in trouble if I didn't calm myself down. I took a moment to shut my eyes and breath slowly, counting backwards from twenty. When I'd done that twice, I opened them and prepared my counter-argument.

"Did you see that, class?" Mr. Bumi stage-whispered to the class, who by this point was looking between me and Jet with a mixture of fear and hostility on their faces. "Did you see her coping mechanism there?"

I didn't like this. I didn't like being studied and analyzed like I was back at the hospital. I glared at Jet, sat down, and looked up at Mr. Bumi expectantly. He seemed to get the hint and turned around quickly, launching into a lecture about mnemonics. Jet and I didn't look at each other until Mr. Bumi made an announcement that had both of our heads shooting up with expressions of horror.

"Partner Project time!" Mr. Bumi practically yelled. "Whoever you're sitting at the table with, that's your partner this time around! No ifs, ands, or buts, you two in the back," he winked at me and Jet, "because this is a learning experience that's good for you! Each of you partnerships are going to go to a public place and observe the behavior of those around you. You will each make a list, compare notes, and then make a nice bigger list comparing the behaviors you see with a form of schizophrenia in an attempt to prove the following statement: 'everyone's a little crazy. All it takes is a push.'"

"You stole that from _Batman_," Jet said in his bored tone of voice.

"No," Mr. Bumi retorted, drawing his 'o' out until it lasted for nearly four syllables. He then coughed, and it sounded a lot like "Maybe."

"At any rate," he sniffed, "this is due in two weeks, so I suggest you get cracking!"

"Could I do it by myself, please?" Jet asked loudly, and Mr. Bumi, just as loudly, replied with another obnoxious _"No!"_

"Look," I hissed once Mr. Bumi moved on, "I understand that you have a problem with me, but you don't need to fail us both because you're too stubborn to let go of your prejudices. I'm making a concerted effort to change here. You're not making it any easier."

Jet glared at me from the corner of his eye. "Change," he scoffed. "Listen, princess, barely six months ago, I was less than dirt under your pretty little shoe. Now you're back from the madhouse and expect me to believe you're _changing_?"

"Yes," I snapped back. "Maybe it's your life's ambition to make me suffer, but I won't stand back and let you do the same to my grade." The bell rang, and I stood, shoving my binder in my bag with more force than necessary. "If you decide to shoulder some responsibility, I'll be in the park after school, observing. I really couldn't care less if you show up or not."

With that I stormed out of the classroom, my anger building behind my eyes again. A tendril of smoke escaped my nose as I breathed deeply, trying hard to control myself. It wouldn't do to tarnish my already blackened reputation further by abducting the infernal boy, chaining him down, using firebending to make him see reason, to make him understand, to turn up the heat when I set him loose and let him pin me for a change—

As I wrestled with these newfound and jumbled emotions, I remembered that I had firebending PE next. Good, I thought, relaxing somewhat. Something I excelled at.

"Azula," Uncle Iroh greeted me warmly. It still took me aback that the man I had almost killed years before could look at me with the same affection as he did Zuko. "How was your day so far?"

At his mentioning of my day Jet's smug face swam to the front of my mind, and I cast Uncle a foul grimace. He chuckled.

"I was wondering if you would help me with today's lesson," he continued conversationally. "We are going over lightning deflection, and I need a skilled lightningbender. Your kind of job, eh?"

I nodded enthusiastically, glad to be doing something. Besides, deflecting lightning was one of the few things I was not the master of, and it would be nice to start a new project.

Task, I corrected myself sourly as Jet's scowl once more flashed in my head. The boy was insufferable, I thought venomously as I changed. Insufferable, and arrogant, cocky, rude, stubborn, narrow-minded...

"Azula," Onji, one of the younger girls who'd never had a problem addressing me before my rehabilitation, tapped my shoulder. "You're melting your locker."

I withdrew my hand from the metal quickly. Where my hand had been clenching the door, the metal was hot and soft, my fingerprints visible. I sighed.

"Thanks," I laced my sneakers as Onji smiled and walked away. I stretched my legs, trying to relax. I was in my element here, quite literally. Jet and his ilk couldn't reach me.

Once the class of firebenders was assembled, mostly made of freshman and sophomores just learning the advanced sets, Iroh cleared his throat. Silence fell.

"Today," he said, "we are going to be learning a technique I myself made. Watch closely, and tell me what you notice."

Slowly he began to go through the set, pulling energy in through his arm, down through his stomach, and releasing it out his other arm. I was struck by how much it resembled waterbending, but didn't say so. After a minute the other students caught on.

"Very good," Iroh nodded, glancing at me and smiling. He knew good and well I'd picked up on it quickly. "Now, to show how it works, I have asked one of the master-rank students to help me with a demonstration. Azula?"

I walked up to face my uncle, and we both bowed and took our positions. I knew the lightning kata by heart, and it felt familiar and easy to go through the motions again. Iroh told me the first day I came home that when Zuko made up his mind about whose side he was on, his firebending suffered dramatically until he went on a soul-search with the Avatar to find the true source of firebending. I worried at first that the same thing would need to happen to me, but Iroh practiced with me, and we found that I was able to perform even the most difficult of firebending sets with my old ease and grace. Iroh was surprised, but chalked it up to my steady self-awareness. I had no such confusion about who I was; I made the decision and went.

The electricity tingled as a massive amount of energy charged towards Iroh, and I was forcefully reminded of the time when I'd underhandedly blown a hole in his chest. He was ready for me this time, and deflected the lightning with almost absurd ease. Of course, after that, it crashed into the roof and blew a sizable hole in the ceiling, but Iroh didn't seem worried about it, and after a moment I saw why—it was repaired by a couple of earthbenders within seconds. After the applause from the class died down Iroh set the students practicing the movement, and I joined them. I was so focused on learning to do it correctly I didn't hear Iroh walk up beside me until he clapped me on the shoulder and startled me.

"You are doing well, Azula," he said honestly, and I almost smiled at the kindness in his voice. "Give it another few hours and you may master it."

"Thank you, Uncle," I replied, releasing a slow breath and pulling my arm out until I was in something akin to the yoga Warrior pose. "I'm going to be late getting home today; I have a project in Psychology to work on."

"Alright," Iroh patted me on the shoulder and left to observe the other students. It wasn't until I was halfway through my five-minute shower that I realized I had Advanced Production next…with Ta Vo. I mustered every ounce of confidence I had (which was considerable) and walked into Advanced Production with as much grace and authority as I could. The room fell silent upon my approach, and I made my way towards my usual seat on the Drama Couch (the drama classroom, unlike other classrooms, had no desks or chairs, only couches, giant bean bags, and a divan used for fancy productions) and sunk into it with an audible sigh. It was so very nice to be back in this room, even if the people in it with me were all looking at me like I was a shark in their midst. Only one person bothered to come and sit beside me, and that was Ty Lee. She threw her arms around me and squealed, as she usually does, and I smiled and squeezed her back.

"I wasn't aware you were in this class, Ty Lee," I said, and she nodded, her bangs bouncing.

"Yep! Just started this semester!" she chirped. "Voey said I should do it, because since you left, they were short an actress. But now that you're here, we'll always have one extra!" she giggled. "I'm probably going to hang out with the techies, because there's this _extraordinary_ boy named Haru working there, and he's my honey, so we get to hang out _all the time_ now! Oh, you _have_ to meet him, 'zula, because he's _dreamy_ and _nice_ and absolutely _wonderful_!"

"He sounds very nice," I held back a laugh. Ty Lee's antics were always just annoying before, but now they were funny. Comical, I would say in this classroom. Someone else walked up, and I recognized my ancient foe, Ta Vo. She looked similar to Ty Lee in almost every way, except her face was a little longer and her eyes were brown, instead of Ty Lee's grey. Her smirk was one I remembered perfectly.

"Oh, it's so _good_ of you to join us again, Azula," she simpered, and I kept my expression pleasant. "We were so desperately in need of another man in the mob scene; the beard will fit you well, I think."

"Thank you ever so much," I replied sweetly, "but I shall have to decline. You see, I simply cannot work in a production where the lead has been filled by an inarticulate skank."

She smiled at me, and I held my own smile until she walked away. I could picture the expression on her face, and it made me smile. At that moment Madam Wu walked in, saw me, and her face nearly split in an enormous smile.

"Settle, class, settle," she said, her voice carrying over the conversations. "As you can all see, Azula has returned to us, healed from her exodus into her psyche." It was more or less what Mr. Bumi had said, but in Madam Wu's ethereal voice, it sounded much nicer and more like an accomplishment. "Now that she's back, the cast will revert as it was in the fall."

"What?" Ta Vo gasped, and I reveled in her shock. "But—Madam Wu—"

"Yes, Ta Vo?" Madam Wu turned her attention to the jilted starlet (ah, how sweet the words!).

"She hasn't been here since October!" Ta Vo protested. "The show is next month! There's no way she can learn all her lines, the dances, any of it, in a single month! This production has taken all year to set up! It wouldn't be fair!"

"I believe Azula is well up to the challenge," Madam Wu said lightly. "I warned you, Ta Vo, that this would happen if she made it back in time. Were it the first of April, I wouldn't dream of forcing it on her, but it is not, and you agreed when you accepted the part that you were no more than her understudy. The time for being an understudy is over, and it is time for you to return to being Babette. I'm sure Mr. Bing is quite ready to give it up, am I correct?"

"But I worked so hard on it!" Ta Vo howled, standing up and literally screaming. "You just want Azula to have the part because her precious father donated more money than we know what to do with!"

"I'm giving her back Belle's part because she's the better actress," Madam Wu replied sharply. "You have talent, Ta Vo, but you waste it by mimicking others rather than truly performing. If you show me that you are mature and ready by the end of the show, I will let you take the lead in our next small play. Until then, don't trouble me about it anymore."

Effectively silenced, Ta Vo sunk back in her seat, grumbling. I stood, made my way to Madam Wu, and did something I never had before: I embraced her, tightly and in a heartfelt manner.

"Thank you," I murmured, and she smiled.

"Just be sure you prepare extra well, dear," she whispered back. "You may deserve the part, but it makes me nervous to have a new lead so close to show time. Don't disappoint me, will you, dear?"

"I won't," I promised, and drew back. From that point we moved right along to the auditorium, where I began relearning all my lines and learning all the dance moves. I worked straight through lunch, going over the steps with Madam Wu, Ty Lee (who was eating her lunch in the house as I worked), and Chang, the boy playing the Beast, until I was satisfied I was making progress. By the end of class, Madam Wu was looking more pleased than I'd ever seen her.

"This just might work," she said excitedly. "Full rehearsals start tomorrow and keep going every night until show time, Azula, don't forget!"

"Wouldn't dream of it," I smiled, shouldering my bag. "Thank you again for the part, Madam Wu."

She waved me away, and I came away from the auditorium with more fire in my heart than I'd felt the entire day.

The entire day except for…but I forbade myself from thinking about _him_, instead studying my English book with fervor I never applied to the subject before. By the time I made it out to Zuko's car (the Camaro of my dreams; I _must_ find a way to get myself one), I was exhausted, but in the fulfilled sort of way.

High school? Please. After the life I'd led, it was cake.

* * *

><p>AN: So, I tried writing non-crazy Azula. Not fully satisfied with the attempt, but I did the best I could, and I hope y'all like it.

Come on. Y'all don't see Azula being a drama kid? No...? Okay. And, to be clear, NO DRAMA INSTRUCTOR IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD DO WHAT MADAM WU JUST DID. BUT SINCE THIS IS A FANFIC, CONVENIENCE IS PART OF THE DEAL. XD And I know it's Aunt Wu in the show; it just wasn't dramatic enough for her, I think.

Oh, yeah: Bee = Smellerbee. Sadly, the only thing we hear from Smellerbee and Longshot; in original planning their parts were going to be a lot larger, but in execution they somehow managed to get themselves written out. Ah, well. :/

Review and let me know what's up, y'all. :D


	10. Chapter 9: Toph

Chapter Nine

_Four Nations High School Chatroom_

**earth_chick_no1** _has signed on_

**boomeranghotty** _has signed on_

**LeeYu64** _has signed on_

_boomeranghotty_ do u mind lee yu i'm tryin 2 have a pirvate conversatoin

_LeeYu64_ Go right ahead. I'm not intruding.

_boomeranghotty_ YES U R!

_earth_chick_no1_ give it a rest meathead. waht do u want

_boomeranghotty_ nvmnd. im not saying anyting wit HIM around

**boomeranghotty** _has signed off_

_LeeYu64_ Wow. How tempermental.

_earth_chick_no1_ yah its wierd hes never like taht b4

_LeeYu64_ Are we still on for Karaoke Night?

_earth_chick_no1_ yah

* * *

><p>Toph's Playlist<p>

Song: _Thinking of You_

Artist: _Katy Perry_

* * *

><p>It was weird, going to Karaoke Night without Sokka, but he'd brought it on himself. He really had. He'd flipped out when I invited Lee Yu last time, which I suppose gave me some sense of accomplishment, but I couldn't help but feel like maybe I'd gone too far. It was too late now; Sokka wasn't going with me anymore, and I was stuck with Lee Yu until I either accomplished my goal or got too sick of the guy to stand it.<p>

Oh, and it was working. I'd never seen (ha) Sokka so riled before. He was fine and himself when it was just the two of us, but add Lee Yu to the mix, and, hoo boy, it was a firestorm. The absolute worst part about all of it was that I really wasn't getting as sick of Lee Yu as I originally thought I would; it became less and less a chore to hang out with him each day. I was coming (slowly, unwillingly) to recognize and value his somewhat twisted humor, his maybe not-so-awful singing voice, and his jokes that, although nowhere _near_ up to par with Sokka's, were pretty funny, nonetheless.

Lee Yu actually started coming with us at lunch, and although I knew they were trying, even Aang and Katara found it difficult to tolerate his presence. That made me a little annoyed. He wasn't all that bad. Only he was. Except for the parts when he wasn't. Ugh.

Today in Child Development was a lot stiffer than usual between Sokka and I. For one, he wouldn't talk to me or even look at me for the majority of the class, and when Mr. Cabaj announced for people to partner up, because the plastic babies were going to be introduced next week, he actually loudly asked everyone in the room if anyone else wanted to partner with him. That stung, more than I cared to admit. I wanted to be angry, but all I could manage was a sharp intake of breath as tears jabbed at my eyes. I raised my hand, and Mr. Cabaj excused me to the bathroom. I ran into the nearest bathroom I could find (luckily the girls'; I'd run into too many boys' bathrooms for comfort) and locked myself behind the door of the first stall, shuddering with suppressed sobs. I heard a quiet voice outside in the hall, just barely over the edge of the doorway.

"Look, I'm sorry," Sokka murmured. "That was really tacky of me to do."

"Darn right," I sniffed, trying to mask my distress and failing miserably. "What's up with you?"

"What's up with _you_?" he retorted. "I thought you couldn't stand Lee Yu, and you've been buddy-buddy for weeks now. That's not like you."

"Maybe he's not that bad," I replied stoutly. "Lee Yu's an acquired taste kind of guy. You've got to give him a chance."

"For your sake," he sighed, "not anyone else's, especially not his. If you're serious about being friends with him, then I'll support you, I guess. Just…" he trailed off, and I waited for him to finish.

"Yes?" I prompted.

"Be careful," Sokka rubbed his chin (and I could tell because he hadn't shaved and his hand rasped against his stubble. I would never admit it to him, but I punched him in the face when he didn't shave just so I could feel it. I have a weird thing for beards. Or just Sokka beards). "I don't trust him."

"Sure," I wiped my face and exited the bathroom, standing in front of him in the hall. "Is that all you wanted to talk about this morning on the chatroom?"

"Actually, I was going to inquire as to why, in Aang's great name, you're going to Karaoke Night without me," he grinned, but I knew he was lying. I didn't press the matter, and he didn't elaborate, so we went back to class and laughed it up like nothing had happened. Upon leaving class we decided our child was going to be named Foo Foo Cuddly Poops, after a baby moose-lion Sokka had gotten close to at a petting zoo, and he was going to be the responsibility of Katara when Sokka and I went to go party (because, Sokka reasoned, it's not like she ever got out, anyway; all she did was study and hang out with Aang, which hardly counted as a real good time). Despite our patching, I could tell that nothing was fixed between us by any stretch of the imagination. He would still be a jerk to Lee Yu, and I would keep defending the kid until Sokka gave him some respect.

I cancelled Karaoke Night with Lee Yu during Earthbender PE, my next class. Lee Yu wasn't an earthbender, or any other kind of bender; he was, however, Master Yu's grandson (different last names, but Lee Yu was named for him) and his personal assistant (because one, Master Yu was pompous enough to go by Master, and two, he was twice as pompous for having a personal assistant when all the other teachers managed to get by). Now, normally, this would have just made me want to pick on Lee Yu even more for being an almighty brown-nose, but I was really starting to warm up to him. It stood to reason, then, that after my daily beating of Master Yu (he never took it well, and ordered a rematch every stinking day), I would gravitate towards him to start talking.

"Hey," I greeted, and he returned the favor. "Sorry, but I'm going to have to bail on you tonight."

"Okay," he said, but his voice was disappointed. "This wouldn't have anything to do with Sokka, would it?"

"Maybe," I allowed. "He's kind of going through a rough time right now, so I want to do something just the two of us. Are you okay with that?"

He nodded, but didn't speak, and I knew he wasn't as good with it as he was pretending to be. That didn't matter; he was just a pawn in the game. Sort of. If this was really a game. Thing.

"Hey, don't worry about it," I shrugged. "We can do something later this week."

"Sure," he brightened. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that. See, there's this place I love to eat at on Two Bridges—P.F. Chang's, maybe you've heard of it?" I nodded, and he continued. "Well, I happen to know the manager, and I got myself a free table there. The problem is that there was a mix-up, and now there are two free dinners that he's giving to me. I can't eat two whole dinners, so I was wondering if you'd like to go."

"Two free dinners," I said flatly, and he nodded. "If you wanted to ask me out, Lee Yu, why not just spit it out?"

"Because it's not a date," he said, though his furiously beating heart said otherwise. "It's just two good friends eating some conveniently provided meals. Are you in or not?"

"Sure," I shrugged. "Whatever. Free dinner's always good. When?"

"Friday night," Lee Yu responded promptly, and I got the feeling he was having too much fun with this. "Don't worry about wearing anything nice, because it's not a date, but it's always nice for a pretty girl to wear something pretty."

"Subtle," I rolled my eyes. "You'll be lucky to get me out of pajamas on a Friday night."

"That's okay," he answered, and I was surprised to find he wasn't lying. "Grandpa's trying to get your attention."

I turned around and entered another sparring match with Master Yu, but I was distracted and he almost won. I say "almost" because he would never beat me in a million years, but it was a little harder than usual to stay focused enough on him to crush his soul.

I had a date on Friday. A non-date, I amended, deciding to go with Lee Yu on that one. I'd never been on a non-date before. What did one do on a non-date? How did one dress? What did a certain _someone_ who was just using her non-date to make someone else jealous do not to lead her non-date on too much?

Fourth block rolled around finally, and after that, a few hours before Karaoke Night, where I could tell Sokka and pick his brain. Not divulging every detail, of course, but enough to see what he'd do.

"Guess what?" I poked him in the side with my spoon (now that it was a little warmer, we graduated to ice cream instead of frozen yogurt). He turned his attention to me, and I suppressed a shiver as the motion brought him close enough for me to feel the heat coming off of him in waves. Waves of good old Sokka scent; his usual cologne, of course, but also leather and clean sweat and some spicy tang that was just…_Sokka_. I had no idea where it came from, but, bar none, it was my favorite smell.

"Yeah?" he asked, interested, and I almost backed out, but I kept myself to the course.

"I've got a date," I said triumphantly, and Sokka's interest seemed to increase. I felt his heartbeat speed up, but his voice was casual.

"Really?" he replied. "To Prom?"

"Huh?" I blanked. Prom? Since when would I go to Prom, of all places? "No, just a date. Well, a non-date. With—"

"Lemme guess—Lee Yu," Sokka said, and his voice was definitely grumpy. "Great. Hope you have fun."

"Okay," I replied, uncertain of how to proceed, and just paid attention to the karaoke participants. The girl up there was pretty good, I had to admit. She was singing something that I would never admit to having on my iPod, but I couldn't help loving the song.

"If you were going to Prom, though," Sokka said slowly, "would you go with him?"

"I dunno," I shrugged, liking where this was going despite myself. "If he asks me, yeah. But Prom's in a couple of weeks, so I doubt anyone's going to ask me at this point."

"Would you go with me?" he said, so quickly I could hardly detach the words from each other to understand what he was saying, but once I did, I had a hard time keeping from beaming.

"Sure," I grinned (dang). "You'll have to come shopping with me, though, because I can't see the dresses. Do you have a tux already?"

"Just the one I wore last year," he shrugged, and I vividly recalled last year's Prom, mostly because I was living with Aang at the time, having run away from home, and when everyone else was at Prom I was at his house, eating my weight in ice cream and listening to my favorite chick flicks that I would never tell Katara about. Aang had come home to find me almost in a sugar coma and sobbing my eyes out in one of his pillows, hardly made better when he burst in telling me all about how he and Katara had found Sokka and Suki making out in a corner of the gym for most of the night. "I could use a different one, though. Katara should come with us, just so we don't end up looking like Jekyll and Hyde."

"Has Aang asked her yet?" I asked, and Sokka laughed.

"No," he shook his head, "but she's been talking about it so much you'd think they were. I think that she's expecting us all to just go as a group, I think, so maybe me asking you was redundant, but it'll be cool, right?"

"So long as you don't expect me just to dance with you all night," I teased. "I have needs, Sokka, deep emotional needs that don't involve getting stepped on constantly."

"Duly noted," Sokka smiled. "I hate this song."

"Really?" I said, going for disinterested but instead achieving dismayed. "I like it."

"It's so sad, though," he argued. "I mean, why would she just pass up the perfect guy for someone not even worth it? And why would he tell her to move on when he knows he's never going to find anyone better, either?"

"Maybe because he's an idiot and she can't do anything she thinks will hurt him," I deadpanned, trying hard not to burst out screaming. "Like, seriously hurt him. It's pretty, though."

"Sure," he grunted, and I sighed. Music was one thing we really bonded over, but sometimes we just had different opinions; we bonded over music, and _The Princess Bride_, which we could both quote from memory in its entirety. I listened to his heartbeat the rest of the night, barely paying attention to anything else.

He could be so stupid sometimes, but, after Friday was over, I learned I could be, too.

* * *

><p>"Hey," Lee Yu greeted as I approached him. "Wow, way to glam it up."<p>

Sanji somehow found out about my non-date and dressed me accordingly. I didn't know how I looked, and I didn't want to know; all I knew was that my hair was different and I didn't like it. Even if it was only half down, there was one person I wore it down for, and he didn't even realize I only did it for him because he said it was pretty once. Lee Yu seemed appreciative, but I was trying too hard not to care to care.

We ate dinner and talked over silly things and laughed, until Lee Yu brought up a serious topic.

"Who're you going to Prom with?" he asked casually, and I smiled.

"Sokka," I said simply. "He asked me Tuesday."

"During Karaoke Night, I presume?" his voice was light, but he was mad. I could feel it just from how he looked at me. "Okay, that's cool. Save me a dance, though, would you?"

I agreed, and we sat in awkward silence for a moment. I set down my chopsticks.

"Inconceivable," I said, slowly and clearly. He glanced up.

"Sorry?"

"Inconceivable," I repeated, and he didn't say anything. "You know. From _Princess Bride_?"

"Never seen it," Lee Yu said breezily, "never want to."

My jaw about hit the floor. "Never—you've never seen—how have you gone through life _without_ it?"

"Quite well," he said, unbothered by my bother. "Say, why did the chicken cross the road?"

I almost sighed. Chicken jokes were his favorite, for whatever reason.

"Enlighten me," I responded.

"He was riding a llama," he replied, with just the perfect amount of seriousness to make me giggle out of pity for its patheticness.

"That's ridiculous," I smiled, but after that…I just couldn't put enough heart into enjoying the night. Long after Lee Yu dropped me off, I lay awake thinking and sniffling a little bit, because, dangit, it was _Sokka_ who I wanted to be with tonight, not Lee Yu.

* * *

><p>"Suki?" I could hardly believe my ears. Why, of all people, would she be calling <em>me<em>, and at three in the morning, no less?

"Hey, Toph," she said, and her voice sounded strained. "Can you come pick me up?"

"I'm blind," I explained patiently (more patiently than I felt, anyway). "If you're expecting me to drive—"

"I'm not," she said. "I just want to talk, but you need to help me get out of here."

I sighed. "Where are you?"

"Three houses down. There's a pretty raucous party going on here," she took the phone away from her ear to yell something at someone, then returned. "I'm just a little leery of leaving by myself, just in case someone tries to follow me. Please, Toph, I'm begging you."

"Um...sure," I said, getting to my feet and pulling on the nearest pair of pants I could feel out. "Stay put, I'm coming your way."

"Thanks," she said, and hung up. I was still reeling from the weirdness as I snuck outside my house, padding down my driveway and to the street in my bare feet. I could hear the party all the way down the road, and when I arrived at the house I walked up to the door and slammed my fist on it. It opened immediately and Suki slipped out, closing it behind her.

"Thanks," she repeated, and we set off down the driveway together (it was about as long as mine was; goes with the neighborhood). This was probably the weirdest thing that had happened to me this year, counting all the spirit mojo. She walked silently beside me, but I could tell she had something on her mind.

"Are you going to spit it out, or what?" I finally asked, and she sighed.

"I'm sorry, it's just...do you have any idea how lucky you are?"

I was about to give her my usual cocky answer, but sensed that now wasn't the time and merely shook my head.

"Look, I'm sorry about...about unloading this on you," she began, and I held back a sigh, "but it's been building up for a while now, and I just want to get it off my chest."

"Okay. Shoot," I prompted. She took a deep breath.

"You don't have to work to get Sokka to pay attention to you," she said in a rush, like she was trying to get it all out before I could say anything, "and that makes me kinda upset. Okay, really upset. Really jealous."

I gaped, stopping completely on the sidewalk. "I don't have to...Suki, are you off your nut?"

"That's how I see it," Suki said stubbornly, and I could tell her anger was building as her heart pumped faster. "All you have to do is say something meat-related or sarcastic, and he's all over it. And I've seen how you look at him, Toph—oh, come on, you know what I mean," she cut off my attempted interruption, "because you're being completely obvious. Just because you're blind and Sokka's an idiot," she said the last part affectionately, "doesn't mean everyone else is." I didn't like how hostile her voice was getting.

"Suki," I attempted calm, "if you're trying to accuse me of something, why don't you just come out and say it? I haven't got all night."

"You're just—you're too—_vulnerable_!" she finally spat, and I couldn't help it; my jaw about hit the sidewalk. "I was there at The Pier, Toph, I saw how you were clinging onto him—"

"Because the entire freakin' town is on water and made of wood!" I yelled, finally getting fed up with her crap. "I can't _see_ on wood!"

"Aang and Katara were right there, Toph," she contended heatedly. "Why Sokka?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because he's my best friend and he offered in the first place?" I retorted. "It's a crime now, to help out a friend?"

"That's not what you were thinking," she replied coldly. "Come on, you had to be thinking that it was nice, having him let you get close to him like that. Is that what you do during car rides, too?"

I struggled for words, something that didn't often happen when I was angry. "I am perfectly capable of riding solo in a car," was what came out after a minute of stuttering. "You seem to be forgetting that _you_ dumped _him_. If there was a time to be the jealous, uptight girlfriend, that time was January, not March."

"You don't think I regret that?" she exploded, and I paused. "You don't think that I'm not thinking about him every second of every day? I made a mistake, a bad mistake, by dumping him."

"Tell him that, not me," I crossed my arms. "I'm sure he'll be jumping to have you back."

She was silent for a moment, and for whatever reason, I started cooling down. When she spoke, she was hesitant. "The thing is, I'm not entirely sure he would be," she said, and I frowned. "See...look, I'm sorry for blowing up on you like that. It's not fair to you to take my anger out on you, but I'm just so...upset, and confused, and a million other things. I always kind of thought...wrongly, I know...that you were just using your blindness to get close to him."

After a declaration of that, I officially had blown a fuse. My mind was blank, my jaw slack.

"And...I know you don't use it like that on purpose, but...I think it's working," she continued. "I mean, Sokka doesn't like leaving you alone, does he?"

"He knows better than to do otherwise when I want my privacy," I said stoutly. "No, Suki, I don't _use_ my blindness for any reason other than good parking spaces." I twitched a smile at her and hoped she smiled back. "I guess to deny it now would be stupid. Yes, I do like Sokka. But I wasn't going to do anything when he was with you, because you made him happy."

"And now?" she whispered, and I considered for a moment.

"If you want to try and get back together with him," I finally answered, "I'm not going to stand in the way. Either way, I'm going to be the supporting friend I know he needs, because that's what friends do. We're there for each other. It doesn't really matter to me who he's with, so long as he's happy." Somewhat a lie, but also a truth.

Then Suki did something that outstripped all other weird events in my life: she hugged me. It was quick, but tight and heartfelt. I was still reeling when she stepped away and started talking again.

"Sokka deserves someone like you," she said softly. "I still love him with everything I've got, but all of me doesn't equal half of you. I dumped him because I was being selfish. He doesn't need someone like that. He needs someone to protect and someone to protect him, and I can't be that for him anymore." She shrugged. "We're moving on to new chapters, and I see now that I need to let go of what I tried to sever months ago. Thanks, Toph."

"Um...you're welcome, I guess." I was still at a total loss for what to say or do. One second she's accusing me of moving on her ex-boyfriend, the next she's giving me her blessing? At the nearest opportunity I was going to pinch myself as hard as I could to make sure it still hurt. Pain, at least, made sense.

"Thanks again for walking me out," she said, and I snapped back onto reality. "And sorry for everything I said. You're a great girl."

"Okay," I said awkwardly, and gave a short wave before turning around back to my house. A car door opened and shut a few seconds later, and I couldn't help but grin.

The chick was good. Almost as good as me.

* * *

><p>AN: Hola! Okay, not much action-wise going on this chapter, but plenty of drama as the Lee Yu-Toph-Sokka triangle ensues. This goes out to everyone reading this: IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE PRINCESS BRIDE, YOU ARE AN UNCULTURED HEATHEN. You don't even have to like it; if you've seen it, at least you've witnessed the amazingness.

Yes, Toph lived with Aang after she ran away. It bothered no one but her parens when they found out.

I'd been trying to figure out how to give Suki a decent send-off when this fic was still in development; the scene between Toph and Suki was one of the scenes I'd written out before actual writing started. It's been tweaked, obviously, but I wanted Suki and Toph to talk post-breakup and sort of size each other up, Suki as the jealous ex-girlfriend, Toph as the best friend and probable next-in-line. I actually really like Suki, so I didn't want to make her too catty or clingy; I hope it got across.

Review. It makes this process go faster. :D


	11. Chapter 10: Sokka

Chapter Ten

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Zuko

_Hey man wat up w/ the attitude 2day?_

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Sokka

_idk just in a bda mood_

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Zuko

_tohp again?_

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Sokka

_suer. i guess. i h8 that losr shes always wit now!_

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Zuko

_b/c hes a dip, or b/c shes not hanging out w/ u as much anymor?_

* * *

><p>Sokka's Playlist<p>

Song: _Mr. Brightside_

Artist: _The Killers_

* * *

><p>I know I've been in a bad mood all week. Heck, I've been in a bad mood since Toph started hanging out with Lee Yu. I mean, she's usually so good at sensing complete idiots when she meets them. What's up with her? It's not like I care too much, anyway. What she does on her own time is her own business.<p>

_Says the lonely best friend._

Alright, I admit it: after Suki and I broke up, I'd been filling most of my free time with Toph. I mean, she's my best friend; what else am I supposed to do? We abused Suki some, not too much, because she's still sort of our friend, but just enough to make me feel better. Once I was done talking about her Toph always had an idea for something else to do. We'd vandalized more sidewalks with a bucket of chalk than Republic City probably ever had; we'd spent literally hours in the Apple store, playing with the gadgets; we'd probably doubled the sizes of our playlists with all the new music we'd hunted down just by flipping channels on the radio and eating fries and Frosties in the Wendy's parking lot.

But as soon as the end of February, beginning of March rolled around…that was the end of that. We still hung out some, but she was spending nearly every afternoon with The Usurper (as I now referred to him; it was with great effort I didn't call him that to his face…after punching it…). Their activities were all over Facebook: Toph and Lee Yu at the park, Toph and Lee Yu at a concert (to a band that I knew for a fact Toph hated, which made it even more irritating), Toph and Lee Yu freakin' skipping down the stupid sidewalk arm-in-arm. Lee Yu was literally flooding her page with all the pictures he'd taken of them or gotten other people to take. I wanted to shake her so hard her brain flipped right-side up.

_We'll always have child development,_ I thought sourly as I walked into the class. Toph wasn't there yet, but the plastic babies were; there was already one sitting at our table. Ours was one of the darker babies, a couple of shades too light to be my skin color. _Just_ _rub salt in the wound, by don't you, Mr. Cabaj,_ I grumbled internally as I sat down. _You just _had_ to give us the baby that looks like the two of us together, didn't you?_ I wasn't thinking about the baby as anything other than a symbol of our friendship (really, honestly, truly, _shut up in the back row!_), and to see it stunk, because the plastic thing was missing an arm and had Sharpie scribbles all over its face. I picked the baby up and was examining it when Toph walked in. She dropped her bag on her desk and stood in front of me, her nose wrinkled.

"What's that smell?" She leaned towards the baby, sniffing, then drew back. "Smells like a moldy diaper."

"That would be accurate," I winced, turning it over and spotting the black spots on the graying cloth slung around the baby's hips. "Foo Foo Cuddly Poops, welcome to the family, huh?"

"Thank goodness it's only for a week," she grumped, poking the plastic with an expression of extreme distaste. "Well, Dad, you've got him after school today; Lee Yu and I are headed to a movie this afternoon."

"Which movie?" I asked, trying my best to keep my teeth from grinding. She didn't answer, and I sighed. "Look, _honey_, if we're going to raise this child right, both parents need to be involved. Statistics say that children who grow up in broken homes are more likely to be juvenile delinquents."

"Fine," she said coolly. "My schedule's cleared for the week. Happy?"

"Uh…I guess," I said, and she gave me a look that was pure exasperation.

"Sweetie," she said, her voice trying for sarcastic but achieving sadness, "if you want me to be here for our child, just say so. Be up front with me." She took the baby from me and held it how she would a regular child. "Do you want your baby mama around, or not?"

Just looking at her, that wretchedly-treated plastic baby cradled in her arms, looking back at me with an expression of pleading I'd only seen on her face once before (in a completely different situation, but the level of desperation was the same, for whatever reason)…I wondered what in the _crap_ had happened to us. What had happened to _me_. Because strange things occurred in my head and in my chest when she referred to herself as my baby mama, and I realized that a part of me (a quite large part…maybe all of me) wanted that to be a true statement.

That freaked me out.

No, it didn't.

It scared the living daylights out of me.

She couldn't see how I was staring back at her, but I realized my jaw had gone slack and I'd been silent for far too long, and she was turning away, a deep scowl on her face. I automatically reached to turn her gently back around, and she let me, to my dim surprise.

"Yeah, baby mama," I said softly. "I do want you around."

She smiled at me, and I realized she thought I was still referring to our joke.

"Okay, then, baby daddy," she smirked. "I'm yours this week. Foo Foo Cuddly Poops won't be a juvenile delinquent unless I say so."

And then the moment was over, and she turned back around in her seat and started jabbering about something, but the hot feeling in my chest didn't leave. I walked around in a daze all day, trying to figure it out.

I abruptly came to a stop when I went to go walk with Toph to our last class of the day, and I saw that she was walking out of the gym with Lee Yu. She'd skipped out on lunch with the excuse that she wanted to try something in Earthbending PE, and it certainly looked like she'd tried something; there was a huge metal spike sticking out of the roof of the gym. But she was walking out of the gym with _him_, and her hair was down in a ponytail instead of a bun. As I watched, he slid his arm around her smoothly and played with a loose strand of hair. She pushed him away, but after about fifteen seconds—far too long, at least for my taste. The second he touched her I exploded. My entire being was on fire. I was moving towards them before I knew what was happening, intent on punching his lights out and maybe kicking him where the blessed sun didn't shine—

"Oh, hey, Sokka," Toph said, and her voice awakened me to what I was about to do. She was walking away from Lee Yu towards me, her face lit up with a bright smile, and without thinking I pulled her into a hug. I never noticed before, but she fit right under my arm. I mean, literally, she was at the perfect height for my arm to go all the way around her shoulders. I glanced at Lee Yu and was more pleased than I could say at the frown on his face. _Ha. Take that, Usurper._

"I've got an idea for what to do with Foo Foo Cuddly Poops this afternoon," Toph said, and I let her go hurriedly, hoping it didn't weird her out that I nearly crushed her. "Prom's in two weeks. Let's go shopping."

"Foo Foo Cuddly Poops will be an excellent third party," I mused, and I noticed that Toph didn't even say bye to Lee Yu as we walked away. That really ticked him off, I noticed smugly. His face turned all purple, and he threw me a look of deepest loathing that I returned with interest. Judging by the way he nearly tripped, my look pwned his look.

I managed to convince Toph to let Katara tag along so she could take care of the baby, but by the time we actually got to Two Bridges to start shopping, Aang also managed to sneak in there. Foo Foo Cuddly Poops stayed snugly in his car seat (which I was so hopeless at installing even Aang was laughing at me); however, that car seat had the tendency to get left at stores because each of us thought one of the others was watching it. It was an honest misunderstanding on my part; every store we went to, Toph managed to find a dress that drove everything from my mind completely and totally. Aang eventually got stuck with permanent Foo Foo Cuddly Poops care, as Katara had already taken the liberty of dressing him for Prom before this excursion.

Toph was getting frustrated, and I could sense it; she was never very comfortable in dresses, and all the ones Katara kept forcing on her were pretty, but they weren't _Toph_. Finally, at around ten-thirty, while the night staff milled around the dressing room, impatiently waiting for us to leave, she found The Dress.

I was holding Foo Foo Cuddly Poops at the moment, burping him, and nearly dropped him when Toph stepped out. What she was wearing was a little bit too big for her, but it was _it_. I knew it, even if she had to keep her hands firmly on her bodice so she didn't flash everyone. It was green, as usual, but covered with black lace that added a Halloween element that was totally Toph. I happened to know that she owned some black lace gloves that would go perfectly with it; it was a kind of floaty, ballgowny type of thing, with a built-in corset and an under layer of some filmy black stuff that made the skirt poof out. The lace poked out over the top of the bodice, but like it was supposed to do that, not that it was an accident. Her feet were firmly fixed on the floor, and her cheeks reddened as I burst into obnoxious applause. I wasn't the only one; Katara and Aang both were offering their congratulations, and even the night staff was cheering a little, being much more helpful in finding the dress in Toph's size than they'd been the entire night.

"What does Foo Foo Cuddly Poops think?" Toph asked, and I grinned.

"He thinks you look beautiful," I said. "Baby daddy likes."

She didn't say anything, but her entire face turned scarlet, and her smile was the biggest I'd ever seen it. Once she was back outside in her regular clothes she took Foo Foo Cuddly Poops from me and bounced him a little.

"Did Mama look pretty, baby?" she cooed to it, and I put my arm around her and pulled her in a sideways hug. I knew when she was fishing for compliments, and I was more than happy to oblige her on this occasion.

"You really did," I murmured. "We're going to freak out Taco Bell when you walk in dressed like that."

"Excellent," she replied, grinning. She was the one who suggested Taco Bell, not me, but I thought it was a genius idea. As Toph gave me back the baby and paid for the dress, the cashier beamed at us.

"If I might say, you two are an adorable couple," she said to Toph, who snorted.

"We're not a couple," she said flatly. "He's just my baby daddy." She indicated the plastic baby, and the cashier looked at me, a little uncertain, and I just shrugged.

"Technically true," I said, and though Toph didn't say anything about it like I thought she would, her face had that sad look from that morning. We switched, and she carried Foo Foo Cuddly Poops while I lugged her dress back to my car and stuffed it in the back with Aang and Katara. I got out with her when I dropped her off, and her eyes flicked towards me, amused.

"Trying to shove your child on me?" she asked (we agreed that I would take Foo Foo Cuddly Poops nights, for the simple reason that Toph slept like…well, like a rock, and even if she did wake up she might not find the stupid card key things to make it stop crying). I laughed.

"_Our_ child, pumpkin," I corrected. "No, I just…" I sighed. I couldn't say what I wanted to say to her, because I didn't even know what it was I _wanted_. Stuff was just so messed up in my head.

"Yes?" she prompted. I shrugged.

"Good night, Toph." I hugged her and left, and she waved as I drove away to drop off Aang. I was quiet the rest of the ride home, and Katara noticed.

"What's up?" she asked, and I shrugged.

"Stuff," I said elegantly, taking Foo Foo Cuddly Poops out of his car seat and into the house. "I'm going to bed, okay? 'Night."

"Okay," she said, though by the tone of her voice I knew she wasn't satisfied with my answer. I wasn't, either, but that was something I'd need to figure out for myself.

Three hours later I was still wide awake, staring at a spot on the wall and letting my mind wander. I looked at the clock and swore. Any decent person would be asleep by now; I had school tomorrow, after all. I turned my head and looked at the picture on my bedside table. It was an older picture, back when Toph first joined up with us. She'd earthbended herself a platform so she was taller than me, her elbow resting on my head, and I had my arm around her waist and a double thumbs-up at the camera. Without knowing what I was doing I reached out my fingers and touched the glass right over Toph's half of the picture. My fingers slid down the glass, and I realized, with more clarity than I'd realized anything in my life, what my problem was.

I was in love with my best friend.

Wow.

The second I realized this something else happened: my hatred for Lee Yu intensified. I remembered that afternoon, with the touching thing, and I rolled over, trying to keep my breathing steady. How many other liberties did he take with her when I wasn't there? Had he tried to kiss her yet? Had he succeeded? Was he putting his hands on her without her wanting him to?

Which led to a scarier train of thought: did Toph like this guy? Like, actually _like_ like him? Was she only going with me to Prom because I asked her first? Was she just humoring me? Was she thinking about Lee Yu every time she was with me? Did she wish she was with him instead of me? I wouldn't blame her. I'd been a real jerk to her lately. But I couldn't help it—she was being a jerk, too. What was she _doing_ with that douche bag?

It was a puzzle I couldn't solve, so I stopped thinking about it and tried to blank my mind again. It didn't work; every time Foo Foo Cuddly Poops cried (every half hour on the dot), I had to think about my baby mama and the home-wrecker she insisted on hanging out with.

This was starting to sound like a _bad_ soap opera. One I had to stop at the soonest opportunity.

But one didn't just burst in on their best friend in the middle of the night with confessions of love. That was crazy, stupid, suicidal (knowing her parents). But it's all I wanted to do. So I got up, grabbed Foo Foo Cuddly Poops, and went to just stand outside her bedroom window all night. I made it to six AM, at which point I collapsed in the Jeep, so tired I could barely see straight. I'd probably catch fire for it tomorrow, but I didn't particularly care. It might have been creepy of me to be there all night, but I _really_ didn't care about that.

I just wanted to be the first one to see her in the morning, not any other guy on the block. Especially not Lee Yu, who I was starting to suspect was bringing her to school now. Even if I had to miss out on school tomorrow (today, I guess), I was going to be there for her.

* * *

><p>I got woken up by a solid knock on my window, and jerked awake, blinking blearily. Toph was looking at me with a concerned expression, and she had my door open before I could even register what was going on.<p>

"What are you _doing_?" she hissed. "My parents nearly had the guards arrest you." I noticed she was still in her pajamas, and it was about seven fifteen. I shrugged, and at that moment Foo Foo Cuddly Poops started crying.

"Baby wants you," I slurred, passing her the baby. She rolled her eyes, and I put the food key card in the back of his head and he shut up.

"Seriously, why are you here?" she asked, and I shrugged.

"Seemed like the place to be," I mumbled. She sighed.

"School starts in an hour," she said. "Do you think you'll have enough time to run home and shower before getting there?"

"Prob'ly not," I replied, still trying to shake the exhaustion. "Say, Toph, when'd you get a gargoyle?"

"A what?" she asked, puzzled. "Where?"

"There, on the…oh, no," I groaned, and the gargoyle that was sitting on the edge of the fountain turned its scaly head to look at me. I suddenly wasn't all that tired anymore. "Toph, you might want to get in the car."

"Spirit?" she asked, and I nodded.

"Yeah," I unlocked the passenger side door. "Hurry."

She did, but not quite fast enough; the gargoyle was already bearing down on us by the time I got the engine running and the car moving. I tore out of her driveway as fast as I could, the gargoyle following us.

Toph had left her phone, so it fell to me to call Aang. When he picked up he sounded so chipper it should have been a sin.

"What's up, Sokka?" he chirped, and I resisted the urge to berate him for being happy.

"We've got a spirit on our tail," I said, swerving into traffic to avoid it. "Could you come get us before this thing kills us all?" Something heavy landed on the roof of the car, and Toph screamed. "_Now_, please!"

I shut my phone and took a sharp turn, hoping to throw the thing off. It skidded, but its claws didn't puncture my roof, for which I was grateful. There was a low tunnel coming up; if I could just reach it….

I made it in time, just as the gargoyle put its ugly head down to poke his beak through my window, and the crunch of stone against scales was very satisfying. I stopped the car in the tunnel, looking back to see if the gargoyle would try to follow us. It didn't, for whatever reason, pacing back and forth across the opening of the tunnel. Toph's breathing was quick and shallow, and I knew she was panicking.

"Chill out," I murmured, unsure of why I was still so calm. Through this whole thing I hadn't been a bit scared; it was kind of freaking me out at how matter-of-fact I could be. I reached across and took one of her hands, and she clung to me like I was a life preserver in a stormy ocean. "It's not coming after us." Not yet, but I didn't say that part.

The gargoyle glared at us, growling periodically. Suddenly it came bolting down the tunnel, and I threw it in reverse, driving backwards in a crazy attempt to run it over. It ran up the walls and on the ceiling, and I missed it entirely. It dropped down on my hood, snarling, and that time I totally lost my cool, screaming with Toph. I kept going, driving out into the road and purposely fishtailing to throw it off. It sunk its claws into the sides of my Jeep and held on, roaring at us. A flash of yellow bore it off of my car (though it took two nice-sized chunks of metal with it), and I saw Aang fighting with it. Not doing his usual "I banish thee" act, but actually _fighting_.

"Stay here," I said to Toph, and got out of the car to help him out. I pulled the gargoyle off of Aang, and it turned to me, raking its claws down my side. I yelled, but didn't actually feel anything as I put it in a headlock. It scrambled to get loose, but by that time Aang had captured it and was going Avatar State on it. I didn't let it go until it actually dissipated. Then I felt my wounds and collapsed, trying my very best not to scream.

"Sokka!" Toph yelled my name, and I heard her dimly through my haze of pain. I didn't look down, but I heard Aang let off a swear word I'd never heard him say and get on his phone to call my sister. I looked up at Toph's face, and she was more terrified than I'd ever seen her. Her hands were wet with blood.

My blood, I amended, looking down at my side and feeling a sickening lurch as I did so. From my ribs to my hip I was cut pretty deep, four long, jagged lines of red leaking onto the road. I felt my world start rolling, and looked up at Toph.

I felt like I should say something to her, now that I was dying, but I couldn't muster the words. I couldn't do anything, muster enough energy, to do more than take her hand and hold on tight.

Then everything faded out in blackness.

* * *

><p>AN: Yes, I return, lovelies!

Sokka realizes his feelings...just in time to get mauled by a gargoyle. Isn't life funny? ;)

Leave your reviews in the appropriate venue, y'all. Have a good day.


	12. Chapter 11: Katara

Chapter Eleven

**Katara Kuruk** _is drained, but _**Sokka Kuruk**_'s worse for wear. We'll see how he is when we get to the hospital. Thanks to everyone who's called in to help out; we appreciate it._

* * *

><p>Katara's Playlist<p>

Song: _Superstitious_

Artist: _Stevie Wonder_

* * *

><p>"Drained" wasn't the word; I was exhausted. Sokka certainly wasn't at death's doorstep like he was when I got there, but he wasn't much better off. I managed to just barely close the wounds when he twitched (how he did that is beyond me; he was unconscious at the time) and opened them up again. Not quite so deep, but he was still bleeding like crazy. Aang had the sense to call an ambulance right after he called me; due to traffic, the ambulance didn't get there until I was almost done healing (and by that I mean at my absolute limit; healing takes a lot out of me, but it was taking even more out of Sokka). As they loaded him up I wanted to go with him, and so did Toph and Aang, but they just told us to get to the hospital and shut the doors. By the worried looks on their faces, they were a lot more scared of one of us infecting the wounds just by being there.<p>

I had to say, I'd never seen Toph look so lost before. She was still slumped where Sokka had fallen, sitting next to his pool of blood and wrapping her bloodstained fingers around her legs. Aang was sitting next to her, his arm around her, trying to comfort her without saying the words he knew she didn't want to hear. I took out my own phone and called the principal of our school, Mr. Kuei, with whom we were on friendly terms.

"Hello?" he answered after the fourth ring (always the fourth ring).

"Hi, Mr. Kuei, it's Katara," I said, pinching the bridge of my nose to dispel a growing headache. "Listen, me, Sokka, Aang, and Toph aren't going to be able to make it today. Sokka got attacked by a spirit and he's in the hospital. Can you…?"

"Say no more," he said immediately. "Consider your absence perfectly excused, and send Sokka my best wishes."

"Will do," I replied tiredly. "Thanks so much."

I hung up and Aang looked up at me, his eyes holding the same fears and worries I felt.

"You need to tell your dad," he said quietly. I nodded numbly. I'd forgotten about Dad. I turned my back on them to make the call, and heard an almost inaudible sniff from Toph.

Dad reacted much how I thought he would; he didn't stop to ask all the "whos, whats, wheres, whys, and hows," he just said "I'll meet you at the hospital" and hung up. I turned back around and sighed.

"Come on," I went to haul Toph to her feet (much to my surprise, she didn't struggle). "Let's get to the hospital, okay?"

Toph was still in her pajamas (oversized shorts and a huge t-shirt), but she didn't seem to mind that much, crawling into the back seat and clutching their Child Development baby to her chest. Aang took shotgun, and I took the driver's seat, relieved to see that the keys were still in the ignition. The entire way there Aang was texting and making calls to Sokka's other friends that he knew of, telling them what had happened. My phone started buzzing incessantly, and Aang started taking those texts, too, periodically asking me about wording and telling me what each person was saying. The most surprising, I thought, was Zuko's, but I shouldn't have been too shocked; Zuko and Sokka were pretty good friends now, and Zuko wanted to be there with the rest of us. My mind was completely blown, however, when _Mai_ said she was coming, too. _Mai_, who hadn't talked to any of us…well, _ever_ (and I would forever wonder how she'd gotten my number; she'd made it clear when me and Zuko were dating she hated my guts). They were there by the time we made it, talking to each other quietly and saving us spaces in the lobby. As soon as we walked in (Aang supporting both me and Toph; I was about to pass out, it felt like, Toph just couldn't walk), Zuko stood and scooped Toph up, depositing her on the couch and sitting next to her. She smiled weakly at him.

"Hey, there, Sparky," she said feebly. Zuko smiled back, then winced as she put her blood-streaked legs on his lap.

"Are you—?" he began, and Aang spoke up before he could finish.

"She's fine," he replied. "Physically, at least; I think she's still in shock."

"Then whose…? Oh," Zuko finally understood where the blood had come from, and shut up. After a minute he struck up a quiet conversation with her, and that seemed to keep her entertained enough to not look like a zombie. I leaned against Aang and shut my eyes, trying to catch up on some rest. Aang glanced at Mai and opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to think better of it. I peeked and saw that she was giving him a flat gold gaze that would have repelled even the hardiest of souls. Mai wasn't a talker, and I knew she wasn't on good enough terms with Sokka to be at his bedside (I tried hard not to think _deathbed_), which begged the question: why was she here?

I kept my eyes open long enough to see a furtive look she cast Zuko, and suddenly everything was made clear. I tried not to smile as I drifted off.

Sometime later Aang nudged me awake, and I saw a doctor and my dad talking at the counter. Dad glanced over, saw that I was awake, and finished his conversation, walking over to me.

"Hey, kiddo," he greeted. "Doctor says…" he trailed off, saw that Aang, Toph, Zuko, and even Mai were all hanging on his every word, and cleared his throat. "Doctor says that Sokka's going to make a full recovery. He'll be walking on a crutch for a few weeks until the stitches come out, and he'll need his bandages changed out every other day, but other than that, thanks to Katara, the cuts were…uh…'superficial,'" he snorted, and I almost smiled, "which apparently means that no major arteries or organs were ruptured, or at least the damage was healed by the time the ambulance came. He's going to be pretty awkward at Prom, Toph," he addressed Toph, who looked so relieved she swayed where she sat, "but he's going to be fine."

"Can we see him?" Toph asked, and Dad shrugged.

"I'll ask." He got up and did just that, and returned. "Three visitors at a time. Katara, Toph, come on."

Toph shrunk back, but Zuko nudged her, and she got up with us, nearly tripping on the carpet. Sokka was still sleeping, his torso wrapped up in bandages, but his breathing was steady and his vital signs seemed normal. Toph dropped into a chair in one of the corners, to which Dad responded by scooting her up right to his bedside, so she was closer to him than the rest of us. She hesitantly took his hand and held onto it like it was a lifeline, and I knew she was feeling to make sure his pulse was really still there.

There wasn't much to do other than watch him sleep, so Dad and I left pretty soon to send Aang and Zuko in (neither one of us had the heart to pry Toph's fingers from around Sokka's). We all went home soon after that to grab some breakfast; it turned into a free-for-all at my house, which I was surprised Mai stuck around for, but she seemed to be having a modicum of fun. The fun was abruptly ruined by a severe knock at the door, and I answered it to find Mr. Bei Fong at my door.

"Good morning," he said stiffly. "Where is my daughter?"

Toph materialized a moment later, wiping bacon grease from the corner of her mouth. I backed up to give them some space, shooting my dad a warning look when he made to back Toph up. However, we couldn't drown out the sounds of their conversation, and merely sat in silence, taking it in.

"Where have you been?" Mr. Bei Fong said. "We received a call that your absence was excused. Why were you absent?"

"Sokka and I got attacked by a spirit and he's in the hospital," she replied flatly. "That answer your question?"

"My condolences for your friend," Mr. Bei Fong snapped back, "but _what_ was he doing here, and _why_ are you not properly dressed? And for another matter, your mother—is that blood?"

"Probably," she shrugged. "He was bleeding pretty badly. And by 'here' I assume you mean home?"

"Yes, yes, of course," he said hastily. "Why was your friend—a _boy_—at our home early in the morning?"

Toph opened and closed her mouth, and I realized that she didn't know any more than the rest of us.

"I don't know," she admitted, "probably waiting to Silly String my room when I woke up or something. He never came inside, so what does it matter?"

"It _matters_ because you are only sixteen and he's a teenage boy," her dad retorted. "We are not discussing this here. Say goodbye to your friends and come. I'm driving you to school once you're decent."

"Dad, please," she groaned. "Don't make me go there today. Please."

"You're not injured and you seem emotionally fine, so I don't see why you should skip school, excused or not," Mr. Bei Fong sniffed, and Toph stiffened.

"Emotionally fine?" she whispered. "My best friend got his side sliced open by a freakin' _gargoyle_ right in front of me."

"It's not that you could see it," her dad snapped, and then he paled. "Forgive me, that was—"

"I didn't need to _see_ anything to be scared out of my wits!" she screamed suddenly, and we all jumped. "I _felt_ enough! Do you have any idea what it's like to have no clue what's going on until you hear the most important person in your life scream and feel them hit the ground? Have you ever grabbed their hand to ask what's wrong and come away with your hands all warm and wet? Don't you dare…" she seemed overcome, and her shoulders heaved. I realized she was finally crying over what had happened, and Mr. Bei Fong took Toph by the shoulders. She gave a weak jerk, but didn't break free.

"Yes," he said softly, "I have." Her head jerked upright, and he pulled her in for the most awkward parental hug I'd ever seen. Toph gave another sob, and Mr. Bei Fong's expression softened. "I won't make you go to school, but would you please come home?"

After a moment she nodded slowly, turning back around to collect the rest of the bacon, not lifting her head to meet any of us. She nodded at Dad and me, though, and left without another word. We looked at each other, our jaws hanging open.

"I don't think he's ever acted human like that before," Aang said in awe, and Zuko and I burst out laughing.

"I don't think I've ever seen Toph cry before," Zuko commented, and Aang nodded fervently.

Zuko and Mai drifted out as soon as she was finished eating, and Dad had to go to work, leaving me and Aang in the house. I turned to look at him.

"Something was different about this spirit," I said, not bothering to ask if it was true. "What did you see?" For the first time I noticed that Aang hadn't escaped unscathed, either; he was sporting a good number of scratches up and down his arms, and his shirt had a rip in it. He sighed, scratching his head.

"That particular spirit," he said slowly, "was a spirit of darkness. Like, an actually evil spirit. They usually can't access the real world, not without a host or some help from the Spirit World. It's likely the gargoyle was made of stone at one point, but when the spirit entered it, it made it more lifelike. I couldn't just banish that one, I had to destroy it." He took out a pen and started doodling on a napkin. "What worries me is that…well…one hasn't actually come after me or you or Zuko specifically; it's always Toph and Sokka, and I don't know why. I couldn't get anything out of the spirit before I killed it."

We sat in silence for a moment as he drew aimless circles, and I took a deep breath to say what was on my mind.

"Aang," I said tentatively, "you've got to figure out why this is happening. Next time some ghost pops up, someone could—"

"Die, I know!" he snapped, and my eyes widened. "Do you think I'm not aware of that? Do you think that I'm not _trying_?" He stood up, throwing down his pen and pulling at his hair from the roots. "I've looked over every bit of information I have, and I'm getting _nowhere_! I don't need you," he rounded on me, his eyes grey storm clouds, "telling me the obvious! I _know_, okay, Katara?"

I stared up at him, his chest heaving, and suddenly realized how tired he looked. Dark circles marred the skin under his eyes, and black stubble coated his cheeks. As I looked in his eyes he seemed to deflate, stumbling into the living room and falling back onto the couch. I followed him.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I'm just so—so _frustrated_ with everything. I didn't mean to take it out on you."

"I'm sorry for being my usual bossy self," I grinned, sitting next to him. "Let's go over everything again, and maybe something will make sense."

An hour later, we were nowhere, and Aang rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Get some sleep," I said, standing and turning to go back into my room. He nodded, staring into space, his eyelids drooping. I leaned towards him, and kissed his forehead. His eyes flew open, and I smiled.

"Take a break, and get some rest," I repeated. He nodded slowly, keeling over and closing his eyes. His shirt sleeve poked up and showed his blue arrow tattoo. Within seconds he was snoring, and I grinned, taking a seat opposite him to work on schoolwork. However much I tried to concentrate, my eyes kept flicking back towards him, until I set my book down and watched him sleep. I was drowsing myself when he suddenly sat up, his mouth and eyes wide open in a scream.

* * *

><p>AN: Heeeeey, guys. :D If anyone is still reading this, awesomesauce to you, and I'm super sorry for leaving it alone for so long. I hope to update more often.

Just a teensy note: when Lao Bei Fong tells Toph he understands what she went through, he was talking about a head!canon I have that Poppy had a bad fall and Toph was born a few weeks early, which, coupled with her natural shortness, is why Lao will never be able to get rid of the image he has of Toph as a tiny, fragile girl.

Review if anyone's still on board. XD


	13. Chapter 12: Aang

Chapter Twelve

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Katara

_GET TO THE HOSPITAL NOW!_

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Zuko

_why what happened_

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Katara

_Sokka's okay; it's Aang._

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Zuko

_spirits?_

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Katara

_sort of. worse_.

* * *

><p>Aang's Playlist<p>

Song: _Sweating Bullets_

Artist: _Megadeth_

* * *

><p>I fell asleep the second my head hit the edge of the couch.<p>

Someone was crying. A girl. I tried to find her, but all I saw was mist and darkness. I felt like I was swimming through pudding, slow and sluggish. I tried to airbend some of the mist away, but airbending didn't work here. Either I was having one of those nightmares again, or this was the Spirit World.

The mist curled around the trunk of an enormous tree, and suddenly I realized I was in an exceptionally dark forest. Hidden in the roots was the crying girl. Her face was tucked into her knees, her arms wrapped around her legs. Her body trembled as she sobbed. I approached her cautiously.

"Are you alright?" I asked. She looked up, startled. Her eyes were grey, tear-filled. Her dark hair hung about her face, and obscured most of it.

"Why are you here?" she asked, her voice quavering. "Go away. Don't you know I'm dangerous?"

I sat down across from her, smiling. "That's okay," I shrugged. "You look like you could use a friend."

"I remember friends," she said, her voice gaining a wild edge. "I remember how they begged for mercy as they screamed and broke and died. I broke them. I killed them all. My best friends. No one could ask for any better."

I felt a chill run down my spine. "Did you mean to?"

"Every last one," she dragged her hair out of her face, and I felt a thrill of terror. Her face could have belonged to my sister, if I had one. I saw on her forehead a ragged, crooked red arrow, as if a child had cut it into her skin and sewn it together with a rusty needle. It was on the backs of her hands, and the tops of her bare feet. I realized they were exactly like the airbender tattoos the old airbending monks had gotten. "I meant to put them to sleep. They were so good to me. So good."

"If they were nice to you, why did you kill them?" I asked around my fear. Her eyes snapped on mine.

"There was a boy," she said. "A tall boy who loved his boomerang." As she spoke images started floating above her head, and with shock I saw Sokka, his eyes bulging and his mouth hanging open as though he'd been strangled, but there were no bruises on his neck. "And another boy. He had a scar." Zuko, only recognizable because his eyes were still intact, gold and unblinking in a charred skeleton. "And a blind girl...a blind girl who could see." Toph, her ribcage sprouting jutting spikes of bone, mangling her tiny body. "And a girl...blue eyes...waterbender..." Katara's oddly contorted body shimmered above, her hands curled into claws as her mouth stretched in a permanent scream of pain, her back arched, like some kind of sick sculpture, like someone had twisted her up from the inside out...

I stood, my mouth working silently. The girl got to her feet, as well, tucking her hair behind ears that stuck out just a little too far. Like mine. Her hair had the same cowlick in the front mine did, just a little longer.

"Who are you?" I asked, and she smiled.

"My name is Aeng," she said. "I'm the Avatar."

That's when I woke up screaming.

* * *

><p>Those first few moments of consciousness were the most muddled of my life. I was screaming my head off, flailing around and trying to move limbs that were heavy from sleep, and for a few panicked moments I thought I was still trapped in my dream.<p>

_No, not a dream,_ I thought, and then I faceplanted in the floor. That cut the screaming off, and I rolled over, merely groaning.

"Aang!" Katara, who'd been trying to fully wake me up, finally grabbed the sides of my head and forced me to look at her (not that it was too hard a thing to do…). "What's wrong? What happened?" She looked at my shoulder curiously. "That's odd. Just a second ago your tattoo was glowing."

"It was?" Was all I could manage to get out. I was too relieved to see her alive and whole; every time I closed my eyes my friends' bodies flashed behind my lids. I wanted nothing more than to see each one of them again, just to make sure they were safe, to make sure _she_ hadn't gotten them, whoever she was.

I sat up, rubbing my forehead and trying to make sense of what had just happened. I couldn't have been asleep for long; the encounter with…with _her_ had only taken maybe five minutes. Then again, time was skewed in the Spirit World, so maybe it was more than that. Maybe less. I looked back at Katara. Her hair was down, out of its regular braid, falling around her face in dark brown curls. Without even realizing I was doing it I pulled her close, burying my face in her hair and trying my very best not to cry. It would be justified, but I didn't want to look like a baby in front of her. She seemed surprised, but hugged me back as tightly as I was clinging to her.

"What happened?" she asked soothingly, and I reluctantly let her go, leaning back against the couch.

"Zuko," I said tiredly, "Toph, Sokka. One place. Now."

"Sokka's probably still unconscious," Katara said, in that placating sort of tone that usually would have made me feel better, but right now it just made me want to pace and yell at something (not at her…not again. She didn't deserve that). "Toph just went home with her parents, and Zuko's out with Mai. We can't—"

"Katara," I took her by the shoulders, "please."

She studied me for a moment, and I did my best to not look as deranged as I felt. I must not have succeeded, because she was on her phone a second later, sending out furious texts and even calling the Bei Fongs personally. That was a conversation I tried not to listen to, but as I was looking for a distraction, it was hard to block out.

"Mr. Bei Fong, I know she's probably not up for this, but it's important," she pleaded. She paused, and I could practically hear the sneer Mr. Bei Fong probably had on his face. "It's got something to do with why she keeps getting attacked by spirits." Another pause, and she scowled. "It's an occupational hazard being friends with the Avatar, yes, but the safest possible place she could be is with us right now. Something huge has come up, and Avatar Aang needs his friends right now." She rolled her eyes, and waited for his five-minute rant to end. "Sir, not to be disrespectful, but Toph can break out whenever she wants; she's probably out of the house already. Me calling you is a courtesy, I assure you." Another pause, and she sighed. "Leave it up to her, then. If she's still there, tell her to meet us at the hospital." She smiled. "I'm sure you will. Thanks for your time, Mr. Bei Fong."

She hung up and turned to me, a sour expression on her face. "The man is more like Toph than I think he realizes," she said grumpily. "Zuko's on his way, and if I know Toph, she's going to be there before everyone else. That just leaves you and me." She grabbed the keys to Sokka's Jeep from where she'd left them on the table and took my hand (I'd been spacing out prior to now, only barely listening to what she was saying). "Come on."

* * *

><p>For the second time that day we found ourselves at the hospital, and after a heated discussion Katara managed to get us into Sokka's room. He was blinking around at the room, like he couldn't believe where he was or what was going on.<p>

"Hey, guys," he slurred, his face breaking into a smile, then he winced, putting a heavy hand to his side. "Ouch."

"Stop moving, Snoozles, you're lucky to be alive," Toph said in her characteristically brash voice; however, the hand that grasped his was uncharacteristically gentle.

"Sorry to bug you, Sokka," Katara began, and Sokka snorted.

"Trust me, you're not bugging me," he assured her. "I probably should be sleeping, but I can't, so what's up?"

"Aang?" Katara turned to me, and I sighed, sinking into a chair. Sokka looked at me, concerned.

"Dude, you look like you've been to hell and back," he said, and I laughed humorlessly.

"Wouldn't you know it," I said darkly. "Listen up, because I only want to go through this story once, okay?" Katara sat on the edge of Sokka's bed, as did Toph, and Zuko leaned against the wall, studying me. "I fell asleep a while ago, and I had a vision, or something like that. In it, I was in some kind of forest…oh!" I said, snapping my fingers. "I know where I was now! That's the Dark Side of the Spirit World. I've never been there before, so I didn't recognize it. Anyway, I saw this girl…she said her name was Aeng, and she's the Avatar."

"But…you're the Avatar," Sokka pointed out as everyone showed varying degrees of surprise. "That doesn't make any sense."

"I know it doesn't," I agreed, "but whatever she is, she's the reason why the spirits are going crazy. She's sending them out to hurt everyone I'm close to, and that puts all of you in danger."

"If you start that 'it's dangerous to be around me so I'm leaving' Harry Potter crap, I swear I'll punch you in the face," Toph said stoutly. "We're sticking together, and that's final, okay?"

"Okay, okay," I held up my hands, grinning. "I wouldn't dream of leaving. But there's a problem."

"You mean besides a weird femme-you running rampant?" Sokka asked innocently, and I smiled.

"Yeah," I nodded. "See, Aeng's only been going after Toph and Sokka. At least, as far as I know. Have you or Zuko been having weird dreams or anything out of the ordinary?" I turned my attention to Katara, who shrugged.

"Not that I know of," she shook her head. "Zuko?"

He didn't answer immediately. He shoved his hands down deep in his pockets and met my eyes. "Yes," he said quietly. "Just nightmares. I've been taking sleeping pills and Nyquil just to make them stop."

"Which leaves Katara as the only one who hasn't been attacked," Toph said flatly. "Anyone want to hazard a guess as to why?"

"I've got one," I said slowly. "I think…see, in my vision, Aeng talked about how she…she killed her best friends. You guys." At the shocked expressions I tried to talk quicker to get it over with. "She showed Sokka first, then Zuko, then Toph, then Katara." I tried not to think of how they looked, instead focusing on the real, alive people in front of me. "I think she's saving Katara for last."

"But why?" Katara asked, and I looked at her, weighing my options. I knew perfectly well why, but did I want to tell her that…?

"Who cares?" Toph spoke up, and I almost sighed in relief. "What matters is figuring out a way to beat her before she kills us all. Is that all she wants, is to kill us?"

"I don't know," I answered. "I didn't exactly stay to ask her what her plans are. All I cared about was waking up." I rubbed my face, scraping against my roughened chin. "I get the feeling that she wanted me to see her and meet her, though. Which makes me wonder…if she can manipulate my dreams, maybe she can manipulate yours, too."

"So if we happen to be sleeping and we see her…" Sokka trailed off, and I looked up at him.

"Try to wake yourself up," I said softly. "There's a possibility she might try to kill you while you're sleeping."

"Freddy Krueger style?" Toph asked, and she sounded just a tad bit excited. I frowned at her (not that she could see it).

"Hey, Toph," Sokka said, "can you see in your dreams?"

Toph opened her mouth, closed it, and blew a sharp breath out of her lips, ruffling her bangs. "Not really," she admitted. "It's mostly just a mix of sounds and shapes I can usually sense with earthbending."

"If you start seeing," I said seriously, "do everything you can to wake yourself up, okay?"

She nodded carelessly. I stood and put my hand on her shoulder.

"Seriously," I said, "wake up. If you start seeing in a dream, you're most likely in the Spirit World and you can't earthbend. Pummel yourself if you have to, just wake up."

"Okay," she said defensively, nodding. "I'll wake up."

I fell back into my chair. "Now that that's out of the way, how do you feel, Sokka?" I asked, and Sokka grinned.

"Okay," he shrugged, then winced. "In pain, but okay." He seemed to have a sudden thought. "Hey, Aang, how come that spirit started fighting _you_? I mean, I know the spider in January did, but it didn't actually touch you. This thing roughed you up a bit."

"About that," I grimaced, "that wasn't really a spirit. It was more of a demon. Something straight from the Dark Side."

"Okay, someone think of a different name, because you say 'Dark Side' and I start thinking 'Luke, I am your father,'" Toph chortled. We all laughed, and I shrugged.

"Sorry, Toph, that's just what it is," I replied. "Anyway, demons, for all intents and purposes, can't come to this world without something to come into and some help from a powerful being. I'm thinking Aeng is pulling out the big guns and showing us…showing _me_…that she's serious about hurting you guys."

"Okay, so now we've got a name and a face to the madness," Sokka said, relaxing. "All we have to do is figure out a way to stop her and we'll be home in time for dinner."

"It's not that easy," I said slowly. "I'm going to have to talk to Roku about this, because if Aeng is, like, the anti-me, then he _had_ to know something about it."

"Visiting hours are up," a surly nurse poked her head in the door. "Out, all of you. This boy needs his rest."

"Which one?" Sokka muttered under his breath, looking at me and winking. "See you guys. Come back soon."

"Will do," Toph said, squeezing his hand (I didn't notice before, but the entire time Sokka hadn't let her fingers go, clutching her like his life depended on it). "See you later, baby daddy."

"That reminds me!" Sokka exclaimed. "Where's Foo Foo Cuddly Poops?"

Toph and Katara exchanged a glance, and Sokka groaned.

"We've so failed," he grumbled. "I let my baby get eaten by a gargoyle."

"Foo Foo Cuddly Poops is fine in that sense," Toph bit her lip, "but he's still sort of in the car. I turned him off."

"You know how to turn it off?" Sokka said enviously, and the nurse popped her head in again, scowling. Zuko shook his hand, Katara hugged him, I waved, and we all left. We were in the lobby when Toph's phone rang, and she took it out, grinning.

"What?" she asked, mouthing "Sokka" to the rest of us. She listened for a second, then laughed. "But of course," she giggled. "I can't believe you thought you had to ask permission to be awesome." She paused, and laughed again. "Yeah, I'll see what I can do. Get some rest and be better for school tomorrow, okay?"

"What's he asking for?" Katara asked as Toph hung up, and she laughed again.

"He's requested a cane as opposed to a crutch for Prom," she informed us, and I thought about the mental image that sent and laughed.

"He needs a top hat if he's got a cane," I said. "Y'know, I know where to find one with a green hat band."

"Which is why you're not the manly man of the team," Toph returned, patting my arm. "I'll see you guys later, my dad's waiting out there."

"He drove?" Katara asked, surprised, and Toph shook her head.

"Sorry, my dad is waiting in his car with the chauffeur." She rolled her eyes. "See you." She walked off, leaving me, Katara, and Zuko in the lobby.

"Hey, Zuko," Katara said, and I violently wrestled down the tendril of jealousy in my chest, "take it easy with the medication, okay? That stuff can kill you if you take too much."

He nodded shortly. "See you," he grunted, and left. She turned to me, frowning.

"Is it just me, or has he been grumpier than usual lately?" she asked, and I shrugged.

"I guess," I replied. "I haven't really noticed." I kicked at a pebble as we walked outside. "Feel like hanging out today?"

"Sure," she smiled, and I restrained myself from fist-pumping in the parking lot. "What do you want to do?"

I looked up at the clear sky, glanced at Katara, and grinned.

* * *

><p>Katara's delighted scream was sweet, sweet music as her arms clutched me around my chest and her feet twined around my ankles. It was easy enough to fly around with her; I just couldn't go quite as high, which is why I was sticking to the suburbs and low-building areas. I did a lazy loop-de-loop, and she screeched again, holding on even tighter.<p>

Who was smooth? I was smooth.

* * *

><p>AN: Oh, man, y'all, I'm so sorry. I have no excuse.

So, in recompense, I am posting the entire rest of it...today.

It'll take a while, because I have to redo my line breaks and stuff, but I've been through the rest of the original manuscript, fixed it up, and now we're back in business.

This chapter is much more entertaining when you listen to Aang's playlist choice; it's the song that spawned this entire project, actually. Fun fact for ya.

Enjoy!


	14. Chapter 13: Zuko

Chapter Thirteen

_Four Nations High Chatroom_

**. i . hate . you .** _has signed on._

**SPARKELZZ101** _has signed on._

**daddys_perfect_princess** _has signed on._

_SPARKELZZ101_ mai how cum ur un is sooooo dpressng?

_. i . hate . you ._ Because I despise this assignment. Seriously, who decided it would be a GREAT idea to make it a major grade to use this stupid thing?

_daddys_perfect_princess_ I agree. I only wish I could change my name.

_SPARKELZZ101_ yyyyyy azula is sooooooooo pretty!

_. i . hate . you ._ She means her username, idiot.

_SPARKELZZ101_ w/e.

_SPARKELZZ101_ do u 2 have prom dates?

_daddys_perfect_princess_ Yes.

_. i . hate . you ._ No. Not going.

_SPARKELZZ101_ OMG AZULA WHOOOOOOO?

_daddys_perfect_princess_ That's my little secret. You'll see when we get there.

* * *

><p>Zuko's Playlist<p>

Song: _I Miss You_

Artist: _Blink 182_

* * *

><p>There are any number of things I thought I'd walk in on Azula doing. Murder, dismemberment, torturing small animals, sacrificing her classmates to summon the dark lord Satan….<p>

I was _not_, in any decade or parallel universe, expecting to come home from hanging out with Mai to find my baby sister making out with a guy on the couch.

I mean, they didn't even look up when I opened the door. I had to clatter around loudly in the kitchen, heating up cold pizza, before she would even unstick her face from his.

"Hey, Zuko," she greeted, and to her credit she didn't sound at all flustered. However, when I walked around to get a good look at her new boyfriend (as I assumed he was), her face was bright red, and she was arranging her shirt and her hair in a way that screamed awkward. Her kissy-face partner, I was shocked to see, was Jet, who still had his arm thrown around her. His hair was sticking up even more than usual, and he had fire-engine red lipstick smudges all over his mouth, his jaw, even his neck. I held back the urge to both projectile vomit and beat the tar out of Jet. I honestly couldn't think of anything to say; I just stared, my mouth open like some kind of idiot, pointing wordlessly at Azula, then Jet, then back at Azula.

"I suppose now would be a good time to tell you I have a boyfriend?" she asked, turning to Jet and kissing him again.

"Cut that out," I said, my voice rough with shock. "Look, Jet, could you get out of here, please? Geez." I returned to the kitchen, ignoring their entirely physical goodbye, and didn't look up from my pizza until I heard the door slam. I looked up at Azula, who seemed to be unable to look at me. She was halfway through picking the pineapple off my pizza (which would normally irritate me, but I was still too much in shock to do much of anything about it) when I finally spoke.

"So…Jet," I said, and she glanced at me, a slight smile on her face.

"Yes."

"How?"

"Psychology," she shrugged. "There's a thin, thin line between love and hate, brother, and I'm afraid we crossed it." She patted my arm. "I apologize if our antics have permanently disturbed and scarred you, and would advise that next time you call ahead to give us time to make ourselves presentable."

"Azula," I groaned, "just—just promise me that you won't get too physical too fast, okay? Things are weird enough without throwing some teen pregnancy in the mix."

"Point taken," she grimaced. "How did you sleep last night?"

Azula was in on my dreams; I couldn't tell Iroh about them for fear of him shoving some ungodly herbs down my throat. I felt guilty, sure, but...Uncle had enough on his plate. "Well enough," I grunted. "First night off of Nyquil since last Tuesday."

"'Well enough' isn't the same as 'well,'" she pointed out. "Did you have the dreams or not?"

I didn't answer. I couldn't tell her about the dreams themselves for fear of drawing her into them, and last night was one I would rather keep to myself. It was simple enough; a girl in a sea of mist. I assumed she was Aeng. She was the spitting image of Aang (which would make sense, if she was femme-Aang), floating around in the darkness like an oversized bat, watching me with her creepy eyes. They were the same color as Aang's, but infinitely sadder. That surprised me. If she was pure evil, why would she be sad?

Of course, it went downhill from there. She showed me a picture of Mai lying in a puddle of her own blood. I couldn't see the wound, but I could guess from the way it pooled around her head. I didn't blame Aang for nearly coming apart; one dead friend was bad enough, but to see three of them like that….

"Oh, about me and Jet," Azula drew my attention back to the present, "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't say anything about it. We're trying to keep a low profile."

"Sure," I said wearily, leaning against the counter. "So, do I need to give him the 'hurt my sister I remove your lungs' talk, or have you already gotten to that?"

She slapped my arm, and I grinned with her.

"Jet fully understands the dangers involved in dating me," she said innocently. "Homicidal fathers, over-reactive brothers, and tea-guzzling hippie uncles and all. Not to mention that if we break up in a messy fashion, I'm not afraid to pull sucker punches."

"Just make sure he won't," I warned. "I gotta say, it makes me a little nervous. He's kind of a head case." A second later I winced and elaborated. "I mean he's paranoid about _everything_. He's convinced everyone's out to get him, he disrespects authority, and he absolutely hates firebenders, especially anyone associated with Ozai Incorporated. This puts a huge target on my back and on yours, so just be sure he's not…you know…using you or whatever."

"Your concern is touching," she smirked, "but unnecessary. I know what I'm doing."

"Not to be mean, but you didn't exactly have the most illustrious dating career…you know…before," I pointed out, and she just stared at me until I shrugged. "Okay, okay. Just putting my two cents in there."

She quirked a smile at me again before crashing on the couch again and turning on the TV. I joined her, pausing when I felt something shift under my cushion. I dug underneath it and extracted a green button-up shirt. I was about to toss it at the laundry when I realized it wasn't mine. I balled it up and tossed it at Azula, who merely tucked it into her backpack and didn't look at me for a full half-hour.

* * *

><p>The next day in Weapons class (the fact that it was still around had to be a miracle; one kid had already gone home with his thumb almost completely severed because he was dinking around with a dagger) we had a test, each one specialized about our own specific weapons. I breezed through mine, not even fully reading the questions, and turned my head to look at Mai.<p>

She was dressed all in black today, as usual. She had a childhood as messed up as mine, with parents who gave her anything she wanted so long as she shut up and stayed still. Once her brother was born, she was pretty much ignored. She told me she liked it that way, but I knew full well it hurt her more than she wanted to admit.

I looked at her, and remembered Halloweens filled with pranks and black lipstick smudges from her awkward ten-year-old lips pressing against my cheek. I remembered fake bloodstains that came from my zombie costume rubbing against her spider princess tutu when Azula set her hair on fire and I tackled her into the fountain inside my old house. I remembered one Halloween back, when she glared at me, hurt accusation in her eyes as I locked her in a broom closet to stop her from helping Azula while Aang took care of my father. I remembered the dead look in her eyes when she saw me and Katara holding hands at school a few weeks later, and how she didn't talk to me for close to four months. Maybe if I'd known what she'd done, I wouldn't have been so eager to jump into Katara's arms.

After I locked her in that broom closet, she broke out in under five minutes (I'm not sure why I thought it would hold her). She found Azula herself, and held her off from getting to us. Her swift betrayal, followed immediately by Ty Lee's, was the final straw Azula needed to send her over the edge. She calmly had the security guards arrest Mai and Ty Lee, then went and blew a hole through my chest. If I'd known that, before the mess with Katara...there wouldn't have been a mess with Katara. I watched the security tapes of Mai fighting Azula off a couple weeks ago, and I heard what she said. That hurt. I thought we were over, but, as it turned out, Mai didn't think so.

_"I love Zuko more than I fear you."_

I'm pretty stupid, aren't I?

And now we were in this new mess. She kept taking her test, unaware that I was staring at her, but I didn't know how to tell her I wanted her to take me back more than anything else right now. I loved everything about her, from her metal-studded dog collar to her steel-toed boots to her black fingernail polish. I loved her courage and her determination, I loved how she hated everything in sight on the outside and secretly loved kids on the inside.

I remembered a Halloween with pumpkin-gut bombs and smeared mascara and a secret kiss in a garden stained with soot, and I knew she thought about it every time she looked at me, too.

Her eyes flicked towards me, and I was abruptly caught in her gold gaze. Her eyes were the same color as mine in that they were in the same color group, I guess; hers were more of a metallic gold, more versatile. They seemed to switch between yellow and amber and silver more easily than anyone's eyes I knew. Mine were more of a flame-yellow. Monochromatic. She raised an eyebrow at me, and I chanced a small smile, trying hard not to let it grow when a sprinkle of color flushed across her cheeks. She directed her attention back to her test, stabbed her last period, and turned it over, doing her best to not look at me. Periodically her eyes would wander back to me, and then flick back to the front of the classroom.

This kind of awkward flirting was just the kind of thing we did before; it was our style. Silent, not obnoxious like Ty Lee and Haru (spirits, I couldn't even be in the same hallway as them when they were first going out; it was disgusting) and not wildly passionate like Azula and Jet (man, I was _still_ trying to wrap my head around that one). We were the background characters, the backburner romance that took a seat to the more epic tales (like Toph and Sokka—_that_ was getting to be an interesting topic of conversation) and the overly fluffy Facebook fodder (Aang and Katara, anyone? It was only a matter of time after all the puppy-dog eyes they kept shooting at each other). School ended eventually, and I stood to walk her to her car.

Once there she rounded on me. "Do you want to explain the stalker eyes today?"

I fixed her with a stare I hoped was intense and not creepy. It seemed to work; she did that breath-catch thing she used to do whenever I looked at her like that before, like a tiny gasp somewhere in her throat that I used to and still did find adorable. I stepped up closer to her, close enough to kiss her if I moved my head right. Her hesitant hands came up on my chest, to push me away, I imagined, but there was no strength behind them; I felt safe enough to put my hands on her waist and lean against her forehead.

"What's wrong?" she asked quietly, and it struck me she might just think I was coming to her for no other reason than that we'd been together before and I needed some comfort. I shrugged.

"Nothing," I said simply, and she let me hold her until I drew back a little, looking her in the eyes.

"Feel like going to Prom with me?" I asked softly, and she sighed.

"You know it's not fair when you ask like that," she murmured, putting her hands back against the car (I weighed my options and decided that then was a good time to let her go). "I wasn't planning on going. I don't have a dress."

"Yes, you do," I called her bluff. "You have an entire closet full."

"None that I feel like wearing," she conceded. "I hate Prom."

"So do I," I shrugged, "but I figure if I was going with you, it wouldn't be so bad."

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked me flatly. I sighed through my nose, leaning against her car next to her.

"Being stupid," I said honestly. "Look, Mai…what I did last October was the wrong thing to do. It felt right, but it was probably the most idiotic thing I've ever done, closely followed by dating Katara." She crossed her arms jerkily, and I knew I was losing her fast. "Okay, listen, can we just…start over? It took me too long, but I know that there's no one I want, nothing I need, more than you." I looked at her and was startled by the brimming tears as she determinedly didn't look at me. "You don't have to if you don't want to, but would you at least go to Prom with me?"

She swiped furiously at her eyes, smudging her makeup (it was too heavy, anyway; she looked better without any). Then she turned, grabbed my shoulders, and kissed me like she used to. Kissing her was different from kissing Katara or any other girl I'd dated; it was almost a religious experience in how passionate and powerful she was, and she made me feel the same way every time. It was like swallowing fire (which I'd done…quite a few times). She set my lips ablaze; from there it travelled over my skin, crackling like electricity in my blood. I felt myself warming from the inside out, pulling her closer to soak her in, one arm around her waist, one hand snaking through her short, dark hair….

She ended it first, pulling back.

"Does that mean yes to Prom?" I asked, and she smiled, nodding.

"I can't believe you're making me do it, but yes, I'll go to Prom with you," she rolled her eyes. "I'll text you later."

I was halfway across the parking lot when I turned around, realizing something.

"Does that mean I can call you my girlfriend again?" I yelled, and she shot me a smile and a thumbs-up as she got into her car. I turned back around, a huge smile crossing my face, to be replaced by a frown when I saw Azula lounging in the driver's seat of my Camaro.

"Good day?" she asked lightly as I glared at her through the rolled-down window. She reached out and wiped something off my face and showed me the black streak on her finger. I shrugged.

"Pretty good," I conceded. "Move over."

She pouted until I pointed out a suspicious red mark on her neck, at which point she blushed and was in the passenger-side seat before I could say "hickey."

* * *

><p>"Hey, invalid," I greeted Sokka as he strolled into school (or as easily as one can stroll using a crutch). He knuckle-bumped me and almost fell over.<p>

"Hey," he returned. "Seen Toph anywhere?"

Said midget appeared not two seconds later, punching Sokka in his uninjured-side shoulder. She grinned at me and made to punch my own arm, which I blocked by catching her fist.

"No fair, Sparky," she pouted.

"Morning, Short Stuff," I returned. "Hey, I'm not sitting with you guys at lunch today, okay?"

"Making kissy-face with Mai?" Toph asked, and I stared at her until she answered. "What? It was only a matter of time with how flutter-hearted you two get around each other. Not that it's a sign of getting together quick, if two _someones_ I know are any indication." She jabbed her thumb at Aang and Katara, who were walking up and laughing at something Aang had just said. "By the way, did I sense right when I saw Azula making out with Jet?"

"Keep it down," I muttered, and a wicked grin plastered itself on her face. "Seriously, she asked me not to say anything, so pipe down, pipsqueak."

"Yes?" Pipsqueak, a huge guy and one of Jet's friends who was passing by, looked over his shoulder at me. Toph took that opportunity to punch me in the stomach, and he shrugged and kept walking.

"Why?" I wheezed at her, and she shrugged.

"Short Stuff I'm okay with. Pipsqueak, I am not," she explained. "My lips are sealed. Oh, hey, Lee Yu! 'Scuse me, guys." She left just as Aang and Katara walked up, and a dark look passed between them.

"That guy's bad news," Aang said fervently.

"You think?" Sokka said scathingly. "Let her dig her own grave. See if _I_ care."

"Sokka…" Katara trailed off and reached for his arm, and he flinched out of the way, a deep scowl on his face as he slouched off. I sighed. Mr. Grouchy was back. I watched Toph and Lee Yu on the opposite side of the courtyard. She was girly and giggly like she'd never been with Sokka, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and smiling at him so sappily it was gross. I switched to Lee Yu. He was eating it up, leaning his arm against the wall next to Toph's head, looking at her like….

I'd seen that expression before, on more faces than I cared to mention. It was the kind of face the women Dad used to bring home had, the faces the young men Azula used to court had whenever she wasn't looking. It was pure, unmitigated greed, and I knew he wasn't just looking at her when he smiled like that.

Toph's parents were gazillionaires. He was circling her like a shark, waiting for her to bleed some green before he pounced on her.

I turned back to Aang and Katara, who were watching them with equal distaste.

"If she doesn't watch herself," I said slowly, "she's going to find herself in some bad trouble."

"No kidding," Katara said darkly. "Her only hope is if someone reaches her, someone who cares about her more than even we do."

"You mean like her bestest friend Sokka?" Aang asked, and then his face became horrorstruck. "She's doomed."

We laughed, but it was a hollow sound. Toph and Lee Yu were going to give us all ulcers before the year was out, I sighed as I went to Firebending PE with Aang. Lee Yu had just better realize who he was messing with before either one of them got hurt.

* * *

><p>AN: Hmm. Rather pathetic chapter, but this chapter is still the only decent kiss I've ever written for Mai and Zuko. Drink it in. XD

Oh, well, gotta keep on truckin'...


	15. Chapter 14: Toph

Chapter Fourteen

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Lee Yu

Hey we gotta talk sometime tonight

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Toph

kk what abt?

NEW MESSAGE:

FROM: Lee Yu

I need 2 ask u something.

* * *

><p>Toph's Playlist<p>

Song: _I'm With You_

Artist: _Avril Lavigne_

* * *

><p>Prom Night. The biggest night of a high schooler's life, apparently. I was all gussied up with the help of Sanji, and felt absolutely…ridiculous. I was wearing this enormous dress, I was wearing shoes, I was wearing lacy gloves; all stuff I wasn't all that okay with (at least not all together), but the thing that was weirdest was my hair. It was down—all of it—and it felt like an odd combination of curly and spiky. Sanji said it looked good and my mom was snapping so many pictures I felt certain I could see the flash, but I wasn't sure about this.<p>

The knock I'd been waiting for hours for finally sounded on my front door, and I pulled the door open before the guards could even budge. Sokka was standing there, leaning (although not quite so heavily as he was just a couple of days ago) on an emerald-topped cane I found for him, wearing a suit Katara helped him find and a top hat Aang bought. He whistled at me, and I flushed.

"You look incredible," he said, and I grinned, trying hard not to bite my lip. Did I say ridiculous? I meant awesome. "Ready to go?"

"Wait, wait, wait! I need to get a picture!" my mom squealed, mashing me and Sokka together and snapping that annoying little camera button. After what seemed an eternity later, my mother (my dad was at work) finally let us leave, and I hopped into the passenger side of Sokka's jeep (which no longer had claw marks in it, just grey spots where Sokka said he needed more paint, courtesy a la metalbending). Sokka shut my door, ran around to the other side, and revved up the engine, speeding (well, not really speeding, I guess, but going as fast as was legal) down the drive.

"Aang and Katara are already at Taco Bell, but Zuko and Mai haven't shown up," he filled in the gaps of our epic Prom story so far. "We've got about an hour before Prom actually starts, so we have plenty of time to just goof off in the restaurant or hang around Two Bridges, if you want to."

"Whatever the others feel like doing," I shrugged. Once we got there (the same Taco Bell from before, remember?) and got our food (the manager said we could have free food for the rest of the year; score much?), we had fun times laughing it up and just being friends. This was something I would miss so much; Sokka was a senior, and was graduating in May. Katara would be gone a year later, which would leave me and Aang. Sokka would still be in town (community college, something he opted to do over a four-year school even though he _totally_ could have gone elsewhere), but Katara…she was practically Harvard material. Aang would be going to some funky airbending college up in the mountains, and me? Academics weren't my thing. What would I do? Even more, what would I do without _them_?

I pushed the thoughts from my head, determined just to enjoy the night. Nothing could touch me here. I was invincible.

Zuko and Mai came in soon after me and Sokka got there, and Sokka informed me that, yes, Mai was wearing a dress, a red one, and Zuko was in a tux. Then he backtracked and told me all about Katara's yellow dress and how much he wished she'd picked another one, because he felt it was too low-cut and too low in the back and overall showed far too much of her skin.

"I mean, seriously," he whispered, "Aang hasn't touched his veggie burrito because he keeps missing his mouth staring at her."

"And they're not together yet…why?" I whispered back, and he shrugged.

As it turned out, we were at Taco Bell for a couple of hours; Prom was well under way by the time we got there. It was in the ballroom of some fancy hotel, mercifully tiled in real marble, and from what Sokka told me, excellently decorated.

"It's Lady Gaga paparazzi," he explained, "so there's funky decorations everywhere and some cardboard cutouts of Lady Gaga to take pictures with." We all went to sit at one of the available tables, dropping off our bags and assorted junk.

"Come on, let's dance and I'll tell you what everyone looks like," Sokka encouraged, taking my hand, and I let him lead me out to where couples were softly swaying (give it another few minutes and they'd start grinding, mark my words…).

"There's Ty Lee and Haru, she's in this fluffy pink dress thing…oh, I get it, she's dressing like her version of Lady Gaga's ice princess thing," he started the commentary immediately. "Haru's in pink, too; his tie and vest thing are, anyway. Over there's…wow, I didn't know Longshot and Smellerbee were together, did you?"

"No, I didn't," I shook my head. "What are they doing? There's too many people here."

"Just dancing, but the way they keep looking at each other…man," he sighed, and for whatever reason pressed me a little closer. I assumed it was so I could get a better grip on his shoulders. "Anyway, she's in a brown dress with a green sash. She actually looks kinda pretty. Who knew, huh? Longshot lost the hat, but his hair's still in a ponytail."

"Figures," I shrugged, reaching up and snatching his top hat off his head, putting it on my own. "Who else do you see?"

"The Duke and Meng; she's in a purple dress and he's in a purple suit…like, a bright purple pimp suit," he sniggered. "Madam Wu and Mr. Bumi are dancing, poor lady. Oh, get this, Iroh's dancing with that biology teacher, Miss June, and he looks _happy_."

I laughed. "Go figure."

"Someone's coming in, everyone keeps crowding the entryway so I can't see who…oh," his jaw dropped. "You're not going to believe this, but _Azula's_ here with _Jet_."

"Uh…yeah," I said, unimpressed. "Were you not there when me and Zuko had the conversation about how she wanted to keep that quiet, and yet I caught them making out in a janitor's closet?"

"Must have missed that," he shrugged, going back to dancing. "Man. Talk about crazy, huh? They're in blue, by the way; she's wearing some kind of shimmery blue-black iridescent type of dress, he's just got a dark blue tie, no jacket or vest thing."

"Mm-hmm," I answered absently, distracted by the footsteps of a person coming up behind me and tapping my shoulder.

"Mind if I cut in?" Lee Yu asked, and at that moment the song ended and became something racier started playing.

"I absolutely do mind," Sokka said, twirling me around and under his other arm (Katara had taken the liberty of doing healing sessions with him, so he could dance without his cane so long as he was slightly leaning on me; he probably needed to get back to it now). "Later, Lee, okay?"

Without another word Sokka marched off, dragging me with him, and I shrugged at Lee Yu. A few songs passed, and the second Sokka left to go to the bathroom Lee Yu was right next to me, sliding his arm around my shoulders.

"Alone at last," he teased. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks," I shrugged him off, taking a few steps back and away from him. "I'd return the favor, but…you know…"

"I get it," he chortled. "I'm wearing green, too. Actually, it's not that far off from the color dress you're wearing. Spooky, huh?"

"Sure," I agreed, knowing full well he'd planned it that way. It made me a little uncomfortable. Sokka showed up at that moment, and I said my goodbyes. It was almost the end of Prom before I talked to him again, but it wasn't entirely from lack of trying; I was just having too much _fun_. I danced with Zuko and Aang (Aang was a surreal experience; he insisted on swinging me around off my feet so I felt like I was flying, not something I typically enjoyed, but tonight it was just part of the fun), but my favorite times was when I was dancing with Sokka and he started getting a little tired, holding me tighter and tighter to him until we were nearly as close as Azula and Jet (and they seemed permanently attached at the lips). His arms were all the way around my waist, and my hands were touching the back of his neck; periodically I felt the urge to brush by his hair, which I indulged only very occasionally. Sokka, though he was pretty wiped out, kept playing with the ends of my hair, wrapping locks around his fingers and letting them slide back. I was perfectly content to stay there for conceivably the rest of my life, until I felt familiar hands tap my shoulder.

"Last song of the night," Lee Yu said apologetically. "I really need to talk to Toph."

"Later," Sokka grunted, but I disentangled myself and shrugged at Sokka.

"One dance won't matter," I said, and he sighed, limping off to find his cane. Lee Yu assumed Sokka's space (though not nearly as close as Sokka had been), and we danced in silence for a few seconds. His heart was going a mile a minute.

"Look, Toph," he said slowly, "I'm just going to tell it to you straight: I really like you. Like, a lot."

I didn't say anything. His heartbeat got even faster.

"I know you like me, too, so I'm going to ask you something, but I want you to think about it before you say anything," he said seriously, and I almost closed my eyes. _Here it comes._

"Toph…would you run away with me?"

_Wait,_ what_?_

"Run away?" I said blankly, and he elaborated.

"All I've got in this town is my grandpa, and we know how much of a jerk he is," he shrugged. "And I know you don't like your parents, so I was thinking…I was going to run away anyway, but it would be a lot better if you were there with me, you know?"

Run away. With him. Was he serious? All cardio signs pointed towards yes.

"I don't know," I said slowly. "I mean, I've got so much here. My friends, school, Sokka—" that last bit slipped out, and I clamped my lips down over the word, but it was already out there, hovering in between us. Lee Yu sighed.

"I know how you feel about him," he said gently, "but I know you feel something for me, too. And, not to be insensitive, but if he felt the same way, he would have done something by now. Wouldn't you agree? He doesn't seem like the type to hold back."

"He's not," I said softly, and all of a sudden it all came crashing down around my ears. Of course; it made perfect sense. _That_ was why nothing had happened; nothing had really changed between me and Sokka. I only thought it did because I'd been around him so much, especially after he nearly died. I should have known that it was all in my head. Even here, dancing…it wasn't real. It was all just him, physically and emotionally, leaning on me. He might have been over Suki, but he didn't want me as his girlfriend. I was just his go-between. His best friend.

And Lee Yu…he was funny and a good friend, and with a little time, I could come to love him. I knew it just as surely as I knew my feelings for Sokka were futile. If I was ever going to have future happiness, I needed to realize it _now_, before I got even more hurt. A chance for happiness was staring me in the face; all I needed to do was take it and run before I got the chance to change my mind.

"Sure," I said, though my voice sounded small. "Let's go. Now."

"Whoa, steady there," he laughed, but he hugged me close. "Tomorrow night, okay? You need to grab some cash before we leave. We're headed to Spirit Junction, and then who knows where? We'll need some money to get there, and you're the resident rich girl."

"Got it," I nodded, my resolve strengthening with every word he said. "Cash to Spirit Junction. Leaving and never looking back."

"That's the ticket," he said. "Remember, don't tell anyone, and I'll see you at Two Bridges tomorrow at six, okay? Be there."

The song ended right there, and he left with the trace of a kiss on my forehead. I stood, rooted to the spot, as Sokka came up behind me.

"Ready to go?" he asked, and I nodded dumbly, following him out to the Jeep. We were pulling into my driveway before I figured I might as well try one last test on Sokka before I left.

"Lee Yu and I are running away tomorrow night," I announced, and Sokka nearly missed the turn, screeching to a halt.

"Are you insane?" he asked roughly. "Why would you do that? Why would you—I mean—" he swore, sitting back in his seat. "You can't be serious. You've got to be playing some kind of joke."

"I'm dead serious," I said, a little disappointed. If Sokka actually liked me, wouldn't he have, instead of assumed I was tricking him, try to talk me out of it? Wouldn't he make his feelings known instead of waste time on profanity?

He didn't say anything as he drove up to my house, and I hopped out of the car before he even put it in park. I started walking up to the house and he ran up behind me.

"Look, Toph," Sokka grabbed my arm and swung me in front of him, "listen to me. I know his kind of guy. He's not…_good_, especially not for you."

"And what kind of guy _is_ good for me, Sokka?" I retorted. "Lee Yu likes me. He wants me. That's more than any other guy has ever done for me."

His heartbeat sped up, and I knew he was angry. I could _feel_ the look he was giving me. "I—that's not—that's no reason to run off with a guy you don't even know!" he spluttered. "I don't trust him! Heck, I don't even _like_ him!"

"You didn't trust Jet or Zuko, either, and they're okay," I fired back. "Do us all a favor, Sokka, and stop pretending like you care, because you and I both know you don't." His heart stopped entirely for a moment, and his hands slid off my shoulders in shock. "Get out of my life."

With that, I stalked away from the guy who used to be my best friend, fighting angry tears. Things would make more sense when Lee Yu and I had put about fifty miles between us and this town.

* * *

><p>I tapped my foot. I'd been standing here for over half an hour. Lee Yu should have been here by now.<p>

My phone suddenly vibrated, and I scrambled to answer it. The first drips of cold rain were beginning to fall.

"Toph?" Lee Yu rasped.

"Yeah," I smiled. "Where are you?"

"Running a little late," he assured me. "Did you bring the stuff?"

"I got fifty bucks and a box of Cheez-Its," I replied, and Lee Yu swore. "What?"

"Fifty bucks? That's it?" he screeched. "Toph, how are we supposed to get anywhere on fifty dollars? Your parents are the _Bei Fongs_, for pete's sake!"

"I figured—" I began, but Lee Yu yelled over the top of me.

"Oh, that's rich! You _figured_?" he snorted. "You know what, forget it. I can't get out of town on fifty dollars."

"I?" I raised my eyebrow, even though he couldn't see it.

"Yes, I! Do you really think I'd run off with someone like _you_? You're rude and obnoxious and flat-out disgusting! The only way I could handle being _around_ you all these weeks is because I was thinking there was a bigger payoff at the end!"

"What?" For once, I was speechless. I'd never had someone tell me that so baldly, especially not someone I liked and trusted.

"Fifty dollars," he scoffed again, and hung up. I slowly closed my phone, weighed it in my hand, and with as much force as I could muster threw it over the bridge. A faint splash assailed my ears, just as the deluge broke over my head. It was chilly, for late March, and I tugged my green khaki jacket tighter around me. I was soaked through within seconds, and in another few I was hunched over the rail, fighting hard against tears that didn't get the memo. I stood there for a while, listening to the rain and my own labored breathing. The rain made everything fuzzy with the constant vibrations, so I didn't notice I wasn't alone until I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Toph," Sokka said quietly, and I lost it. I burst into tears, and Sokka wrapped me up in his arms as I sobbed into his chest. He rubbed my back and kissed the top of my head.

"Come on," he murmured. "Let's get you warm and dry."

I nodded dumbly, and he kept his arm around me as we walked through the rain to his car.

"You are a tough girl to get a hold of," he said eventually. "Where's your phone?"

"I chucked it," I sniffed. "Lee Yu is a..." I thought carefully for a moment, then rattled off an impressive string of mixed curse words and odd objects. Sokka laughed.

"Yeah, that about covers it," he grinned at me. Then he sobered. "Do you want me to drop you off at your house?"

"No," I shook my head. "Yours is fine."

"Okay." Sokka squeezed my shoulder. "My house it is."

* * *

><p>AN: Ssshhhh is it obvious I haven't ever been in a relationship and that I've seen Corpse Bride too many times? (like twice not that much)

A few things about this chapter: This isn't Lee Yu's first rodeo. And he's a smart-enough guy to not do the heartbreaking in person, though not quite smart enough to...y'know...NOT do it.

The second half of this chapter was one of the first things I'd written for it, too, and the last bit of Sokka's next chapter. Moar trivia teehee

Anyway. Hope you guys are enjoying so far!


	16. Chapter 15: Sokka

Chapter Fifteen

_Four Nations High Chatroom_

**boomeranghotty** _has signed on_

**_banished_fire_prince_** _has signed on_

_boomeranghotty_ shes leavin 2nite

__banished_fire_prince__ U r just goin 2 let hr go?

_boomeranghotty_ she told me to get out of her life what am i suposd 2 do?

__banished_fire_prince__ well do u 3 her?

_boomeranghotty_ yes

__banished_fire_prince__ u better act soon. ur seconds away from losing her 4EVER!

_boomeranghotty_ ikd why she e ven likes lee u he is such a slimeball

__banished_fire_prince__ THEN GO GET HER BACK!

_boomeranghotty_ g2g

__banished_fire_prince__ good luck buddy

**boomeranghotty** _has signed off_

**_banished_fire_prince_** _has signed off_

* * *

><p>Sokka's Playlist<p>

Song: _Meteor Shower_

Artist: _Owl City_

* * *

><p>I had to hand it to her, she knew how to stir up some drama when she wanted to. What night better than Prom than to break my heart? What better to be wearing than that amazing dress? How better to have her hair than down and framing her face and making her look so beautiful she took my breath away?<p>

That night I didn't sleep; I kept talking myself out of finding the phone book, hunting down Lee Yu's address, and doing something terrible to him or his car. He'd said something to convince her to go; everything was going perfect before. The plan was to drive Toph home and maybe steal a kiss on her front steps, not to get in a shouting match and have her storm off, even more bent on going with him. I stayed in my room, frustrated and worried. There was a sizable hole in my wall when my dad and sister finally woke up, and my hand was clumsily bandaged (I wonder how that happened…).

I didn't talk to anyone all day, snappy and irritable, until five forty-five rolled around and I got so nervous I got online to get some distraction. What happened was that I had a conversation with Zuko that got me off of my sorry butt and outside looking for her. Dark storm clouds were rumbling ominously overhead, and as I drove it got even darker, until, finally the rain dumped down in buckets.

At last, satisfied that the other bridges were empty, I went to Two Bridges (which should have been the obvious first choice, but I didn't go there first for that reason; if they were trying to throw off followers, going to a different decorative bridge made sense). To my weak-kneed relief there was a familiar short figure there, hunched over the rail.

I walked up behind her and touched her shoulder; her breathing was shallow and she was shuddering.

"Toph," I began, but I didn't get a chance to keep talking; she turned around and started crying into my shirt. I figured the thing she needed most right now was to get out of this rain, so after quickly conferring with her, we headed off to my house.

"Use Katara's shower," I directed once we got inside, and Toph nodded and trudged towards Katara's room. Dad peeked his head out of the kitchen.

"Is she okay?" he asked, and I nodded.

"Where's Katara?" I asked.

"Studying with Aang," he rolled his eyes. "She's gone to his house every night this week. If he hasn't made his move yet, he never will."

"Doesn't surprise me," I shrugged. "If Toph gets out before I do, give her something to eat, would you?"

"Uh-huh," he returned to his sandwich, and I hopped in the shower. By the time I got out, Toph was curled on the couch, her long hair wet and twisted into a bun, munching on Cheez-Its. She was wearing a pair of Katara's beach shorts and—my heart sputtered—one of my t-shirts.

Wordlessly she held the damp box out to me, and I silently took a handful and popped them in my mouth.

"Well," Dad said loudly, "I'm off to work." He ruffled my hair as he passed. "Be good, kids. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"That's not saying much," I replied, and Dad laughed.

"Make sure the house is still standing," he chuckled, and left. We polished off the bag without speaking, and once the box was empty we sat some more. As per usual, I felt the need to break the silence.

"You okay?"

Toph snorted. "Sort of."

"Tell me about it," I encouraged her, scooting closer to her. She stretched out and put her legs in my lap. Without thinking I rested my arms on them, rubbing an absent path across her calf with my thumb.

"I was sitting tight for a while, when he called." Her voice was straining for its usual indifference. "I really hate it when you're right, meathead."

"Sometimes, I do, too," I replied honestly. "What did he say?"

"Called me fat and ugly," she monotoned, and I gaped.

"Really?"

"No, not really," she rolled her eyes. "Just obnoxious and gross. Same thing."

"You're not obnoxious, or gross," I disagreed with her. She gave me a flat look.

"Maybe to the casual observer," I amended, "but to me, you're more than that. You're outgoing, and comfortable in your own skin. And," I squeezed her leg, "if he called you fat or ugly, he's obviously never seen you before."

She smiled. "Got me all figured out, don't you?"

"Except for one thing," I hoped she couldn't tell my heart was hammering in my chest. "Why did you start liking this guy in the first place? I mean, you told me yourself you thought Lee Yu was a schmuck."

She fell silent. I was afraid I touched a nerve, and was on the verge of changing the subject when she finally answered.

"I suppose...it's stupid," she muttered, rubbing her neck, "but...well, Katara said I should...y'know...find a guy...and..."

Her nervousness confused me. "Katara said to find a guy, so you did?"

"Not exactly," she shook her head. "See, the only reason I started hanging around Lee Yu was to...uh...was to make you jealous."

I couldn't help it; my mouth fell open.

"Me?" I spluttered. "You were—you almost—" I put my head in my hands. "Toph, you almost gave me a heart attack when you said you were leaving with him."

"Good," she grinned. "That's what I was going for."

I snorted a humorless laugh. "I can't believe you thought I'd be jealous over Lee Yu." I rubbed my scalp. "I mean, at least show some class, Toph."

She pulled her legs out of my lap and stood up. I grabbed her arm and yanked her down again, tickling her side and wheezing when she punched my stomach. I locked her in my arms against my chest to stop her from hitting me again.

"The truth is, though," I gasped, and she stopped struggling, "it doesn't matter who you chose, because I'd be on fire if I saw you with another guy, anyway."

Her eyes widened, and I took that as my cue.

"I went to every bridge in town looking for you tonight, just to make sure," I said softly. "If you were bent on going with Lee Yu, I wasn't going to stop you, even if I could. But I couldn't let you leave without telling you..." I hesitated and slid my hand against her cheek, leaning in and very, very gently, touching my lips to hers. I knew good and well this was her first kiss, and I didn't want to overwhelm her.

As it turned out, it was myself I had to worry about. She pressed closer to me, pushing me back against the arm of the couch and catching me off-guard. She had excellent natural talent, I thought, amused, as she pulled back.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "I've never done that before."

"Maybe you need more practice," I suggested, and she flushed.

"That bad?"

"Not at all," I grinned. She leaned back when I went in for another one, and I stuck my bottom lip out at her and whined.

She shrugged. "Special boyfriend privileges only."

"Hmm. That makes sense." My face fell. She laughed, crawling up closer to me.

"I never said you weren't my boyfriend, though," she whispered, and kissed me again.

"Special boyfriend privileges rock," I murmured, and Toph smiled. "Love you."

"You'd better," she grinned, and kissed me again. "Love you, too."

Unfortunately, Aang and Katara decided that was a good moment to walk in, right as I was going for Kiss Number Four. My mind raced wildly. How weird did this look? Me, shirtless on the couch, with Toph pretty much in my lap, wearing my shirt...I yelped, losing my balance and falling off the couch, taking Toph with me. She landed splayed on my chest, looking, if possible, even worse.

"Crap, Snoozles," she growled, "you are such a _loser_." But she granted me a tiny kiss and a smile, and I knew she enjoyed herself anyway.

"What's going on?" Katara asked playfully.

"Not getting up to hanky-panky, are we?" Aang giggled.

"'Hanky panky'?" Toph groaned, rolling off of me and getting to her feet. "Really, Twinkletoes? How old are you, a hundred?"

"What happened with Lee Yu?" Katara asked, and Toph grinned broadly, pulling me to my feet.

"Who?" she asked innocently, yanking me down for Number Five.

"Oh, good," Aang said brightly. "I can stop pretending to like him, then?"

"Things are going to be weird Monday," I frowned.

"Like they're never weird?" Aang laughed. "Well, see you, Katara. Same time tomorrow?"

"Sure," she grinned, hugging him. "Honestly, I don't know why you keep studying. You know all of this."

"Maybe," Aang shrugged, winking at me, "but I like to be sure. You can never study too much." He turned to Toph. "Want a ride home?"

"One minute." Toph turned to me, and I bent to oblige her.

"Maybe you're the one that needs practice," she grinned, and I laughed.

"I'll call you," I promised, then frowned. "Well..."

"I have a spare," she shrugged. "Different number. _I'll_ call _you_."

We hugged, and Toph left with Aang. Katara rounded on me.

"You're a good guy, Sokka," she smiled. "Slow, but a good guy."

"Yeah," I sniffed, wiping my nose as macho as I could. "I am."

She poked me in the stomach and walked to the kitchen. "Sloppy joes?"

"Yep." I settled back on the couch and sighed. Sure, spirits of the departed dead were wreaking havoc in the city and some crazy reverse-fem-Aang was lurking in the background, but it was nice to know that simple things like love could still happen amid the chaos.

* * *

><p>AN: The chapter most of you Tokka people have been waiting for. Bless ya. :D

Poking fun at Aang's show-canon age YEAH (that's a brand-new bit that wasn't in the original draft posted on my dA...I feel like patting myself on the head for finally noticing the opportunity. XD)

Anyway. Next chapter, the plot moves ahead once more! Be ready!


	17. Chapter 16: Aang

Chapter Sixteen

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Nini

OMG AANGY ISN'T HERE TODAY WHY?

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Kita

IDK HE WAS HERE B4 LUNCH IM SO SAD I BROUGHT STUFF 4 HIM 2DAY.

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Nini

what kind of stuff

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Kita

its a secret. But it has something 2 do w/ lipstick nd that afterschool ambush

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Nini

O NO U DON'T SLUT IM THE PREZ OF HIS FANCLUB IF THERE IS GOIN 2 B LIPSTICK ITS MINE OK!

* * *

><p>Aang's Playlist<p>

Song: _21 Guns_

Artist: _Green Day_

* * *

><p>Prom. Prom, Prom, Prom. I'm <em>still<em> on Cloud Nine about it. Prom itself was a lot of fun, but when I was taking Katara home (oh, how much I wanted to keep her out later, just to keep looking at her in that incredible dress)…_I almost kissed her._ I chickened out because she was busy looking for her keys in her purse and I didn't want to disturb her; she seemed to be taking quite a long time, even though it was a small bag. She did hug me, though, and it was _at least twenty seconds long_. That's a step up, right? Man, she smelled amazing. And her hair…and the dress…and her face….

Of course the night had to end, and I had to get out of that tux before the tie strangled me for good. I'd see her the next day, anyway; we were going over the details of what we knew about Aeng and the spirits, trying to pinpoint her next attack. Katara made the observation that, if the order of friends was anything to go by, Sokka was in the most danger at the moment. Zuko hadn't gotten chased at all, and the only reason why Toph was in danger was because she spent so much time with Sokka. Of course, upon making that realization she wanted to leave right that second, so I humored her and we left for her house.

Which is where we walked in on Toph and Sokka practically making out, much to our relief and delight. Katara actually _hugged_ me when she saw them. As I was then driving Toph home I asked her about it.

"What up with you and Sokka?" I asked, and she grinned broadly.

"We got our communication skills down," she replied. I noticed she was still wearing Sokka's shirt; her parents would go nuts when she walked inside.

"Um…Toph, you do realize that you're not wearing your regular clothes, right?" I said hesitantly, and she shrugged.

"I'll just tell them we decided to go swimming and I forgot my swim suit, so I borrowed some clothes." She scratched her scalp. "Take my advice, Aang, if someone starts hanging out with you and they seem to know everything about you, run as fast as possible in the opposite direction."

"Oh, I do," I said darkly. "I have a rabid fan club, remember?"

"Vividly," Toph smiled wickedly, and I frowned, remembering the time when she trapped me in a broom closet under the pretense of helping me escape my fangirls. I was yelling myself hoarse in that stupid room for close to an hour before someone heard me.

We got to her house, finally, and she made a break for it through the sprinkling rain. Once she got inside I drove away, my mind wandering back to Aeng.

I asked Roku about her, alright, but the guy was so evasive and jumpy I couldn't get a straight answer out of him; we weren't getting anywhere, so I just left.

Tonight, though, I had to ask him again. If I didn't, we'd be so unprepared for whatever she was throwing the world could probably end. I didn't want to go down in history as the Avatar who actually lost the world. That would suck, both for me and for my next incarnations; who would trust them after my humiliating failure?

I got home, locked myself in my room, and lit the candles on my windowsill and bookshelf (my room was actually clean today; I didn't want to hold a conversation with Katara with my undies hanging off my light fixture and socks dangling from my desk). I sat cross-legged on my rug, putting my fists together and breathing deeply, letting my mind slide into complete blankness.

It was like waking up when I made it to the Spirit World. Everything came to gradually, forming into the bright space of Limbo, where I usually talked to my previous incarnations. Roku was there, a smile on his wrinkled face, his beard neat and his hair pulled back (I assumed it was an old guy thing; Zuko's uncle Iroh did the same thing, although his ponytail wasn't quite as impressive as Roku's).

"Aang," he greeted. I smiled in return, but my serious expression returned.

"I need you to tell me about Aeng," I said, and Roku's wise smile faded. He didn't say anything, and I tried my hardest to not lose my patience.

"Roku, please," I begged, "you've got to tell me how to beat her. I can't just let this one slide—she's seriously going to hurt some people. Tell me everything about her."

Roku looked at me for a moment, then sighed, sitting down on the ethereal ground (though why he did this I didn't know—we couldn't get tired in the Spirit World).

"You're going to want to be sitting down for this one," he explained, indicating the ground in front of him. I did as he asked, waiting for him to begin. He breathed slowly and opened his eyes.

"As you know, there was a sizable gap between my death and your birth—a thing that should not have happened. These are troubled times, and the powers of darkness have grown to the point where, upon the Avatar's reincarnation, they can affect even the cycle of balance itself.

"Your parents…" he paused again, and I perked up. I'd never heard about my parents before. "They were kids in high school. Unorthodox, not ideal, but for your upbringing as an impartial Avatar it was necessary. The usual battle that occurs between the forces of good, led by the Avatar spirit, and the forces of evil, led by what is known as an Anti, raged during your mother's pregnancy, but this time a fatal flaw occurred.

"The forces of evil gained a victory they should not have won, and as a result the infant who was supposed to be the next Avatar—your first body, I would say—died."

My jaw fell, and I was glad I was sitting down.

"For ten years the battle drew on and on, and the forces of evil gained more of an advantage. The world reflected the off-balance nature of the universe; times grew harder, more evil was created. Finally, the balance was tossed by the heroic efforts of the Avatar spirit and the excess evil was obliterated, bringing the Avatar back into being. Your parents, ten years after this event in high school, managed to find one another again, and again your mother conceived. This time you were to be born alive and whole, but the forces of evil struck again, this time in the form of a drunken man behind the wheel of a car, careening towards a car your father was driving. Both your parents perished, while you survived, the new Avatar and an orphan.

"Your Anti and you had ten years to learn each other's strengths and weaknesses, and she is every bit as powerful as you are. She was reborn in a sense when you were born, becoming a small, fragile spirit like you. As you grew, so did she. When you fulfilled the prophecy and defeated Ozai's plots, she was there, gaining strength with you." Roku looked me full in the eyes for a moment, saying nothing. Then he continued.

"You are faced with a challenge no Avatar before you has undertaken. Your Anti, Aeng, is very, very powerful, as you are. You will not become a fully realized Avatar until you defeat her and take on all of your Avatar duties."

"So—so I have to fight _myself_?" I gaped. "How? If she's just like me—"

"She's not just like you. You are mistaken," Roku shook his head. "She is evil, as you are good. She is your flip side, your negative. When you see her, you should see yourself turned upside down."

I buried my head in my hands. This was all too much to take.

"Do you want to explain to me," I found myself saying, "why, in the almighty name of that god who spawned us, did you _never_ tell me about this?"

"It wasn't expedient—" Roku began, and I stood, my hands curled into fists, my entire being shaking.

"_Expedient_?" I roared. "I _died_ and have an _evil twin_, and no one thought I might need to _know_? No one thought that it was _important_ enough to tell me? 'Oh, here, _Avatar_, we'll shove off all responsibility of managing the balance of life on you, and on top of that we'll _not_ tell you about the most important thing of all that could possibly kill your friends and you, then expect you to deal with it like everything else when the truth finally _does_ come out. Sayonara and good luck with life!'" I said the filthiest swear word I could muster, followed quickly by the second few. I wanted to punch something. Anything. Cloud wasn't substantial enough, but the old man perched in front of me would feel solid once I got my hands on him….

"Rage at me all you want," Roku said calmly, and I realized I'd taken several steps towards him, "it does not change the fact that you have a destiny to complete. You were not told because it didn't seem necessary to alert you to a danger normally never present in an Avatar's mortal life. Aeng becoming strong enough to haunt the line between this world and yours is a problem we never foresaw. Do not blame He who governs all movements; His purpose is not clear, not even to we who hold the keys to change the paths of fate. We act for Him and Him alone, for whatever reason He wills."

"But why me?" I asked, falling to my knees. "Why is it me that has to face my Anti, when no other Avatar has?"

"Perhaps it is because you are the strongest Avatar yet," Roku said gently. "Do not forget, Aang, that it was _your_ spirit, _your_ incarnation, who was able to restore balance and make sure the cycle continued. You do not remember, but your spirit is the same, nonetheless; if all else fails, rely on your spirit. It will guide you when all seems darkness." He stood, pulling me to my feet. "He who made all things never said it would be easy," he whispered, and I felt myself fading, returning to my own body. "He only said that the end reward would be worth it all."

All at once I was back in my room, leaning back against my bed, breathing heavily and gripping fistfuls of the carpet for support.

_She's me,_ I thought desperately. I knew that already, I guess, but it didn't occur to me that I knew her already, or that she knew me. Before every Avatar birth the forces of good and evil did battle, and the Avatar won the right to come into the world and fulfill his or her destiny. Apparently I had to go through it twice before I was worthy enough. If that didn't make me question myself, nothing else in life ever would. I rubbed my left shoulder absently. My blue arrow was something that connected me to both my heritage and my Avatar roots; the last air Avatar was Avatar Yangchen, and she was the last of the full-body arrow tattoo generation. The in thing to do now was to get an arrow strategically placed, but I hadn't seen another airbender in years. We were a rarity, but I knew for a fact that there was a tiny backwater town somewhere in the middle of nowhere named Gondaze that had the last remaining population of airbenders in the world. I didn't know where the typical airbender got his tattoo anymore. Heck, I didn't even know anything about how my parents managed to create an airbender; one or both of them had to carry the gene.

There was so much about my past I just didn't know, but there was one important thing that would help me save the world, and I had to share this information with the people in the world who were most in danger.

But how was I going to defeat myself? It didn't make sense, like a riddle that didn't really have an answer. The problem was that if I didn't figure it out….

I checked my clock. Eight, exactly. I sighed, picked myself up, and went to shower. Might as well take care of business and then get to bed. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.

* * *

><p>To my utter, complete, and darkly satisfied surprise, Lee Yu was at school the next day. I say "darkly satisfied" because Toph, Sokka, and I rigged his locker to spray discarded fish guts from the biology labs when he opened it, and the explosion was <em>spectacular<em>. What was best, though, was his expression when we walked by, casually, Toph and Sokka holding hands. It was like he'd been punched in the face, and it was great. Lee Yu looked so mad he could have spit, but then he'd have to open his mouth and let some of the fish grease drip inside. All in all, a satisfying first fifteen minutes of a Monday.

To my relief, Toph and Sokka weren't disgustingly open about their PDA; they had some form of contact at all times, but they weren't excluding everyone else and they were just like normal only with everyone knowing they were making out when no one was watching. Mai started hanging out with us more (apparently she and Zuko got back together just before Prom), which added her own element of dry humor and sarcasm to the medley. It was lunchtime before I realized the only imperfect thing about today.

All of this…it was fragile. It could shatter at any moment. The laughter, the happiness, the carefree teenage attitude—one slip and it could all come crashing down. One person hurt, one person maimed, one person killed, and it was all over for a good amount of time. It was all on me to protect. Not that I minded protecting what I loved, but…it's lonely at the top, I guess. Knowing I'm the only one who can save them just made me more tense. I laughed at Toph's jokes, I poked fun at Zuko's deadpan expression, but I was shaking by minute degrees. I was wound so tightly I could literally feel the coiled spring my spine became. I was zoning out of the conversation when I felt a warm hand squeeze my shoulder.

"Aang?" Katara murmured, and I jumped, startled. I looked at her and for a moment got lost in her eyes. She really was extraordinarily beautiful. "What's wrong?"

I grinned and shrugged. "Nothing."

"Don't lie to me," she said huffily, just as Toph said loudly, "Liars never prosper, Twinkletoes!"

I sighed. "Look, it's not a big deal—okay, it's a big deal, but I don't want to bug you guys with it." I had to change course quickly as Toph's expression darkened again. "It's nothing I want you having nightmares about."

"Aeng again?" Katara sighed, and the cheery atmosphere evaporated in a second. Like I said. Fragile.

"Sort of," I ran my hands through my hair (undoubtedly making it stick up weirdly again). I told them everything Roku had told me, and by the end of the story nearly every jaw was somewhere around the floor, even Mai's (who wasn't too familiar with what was going on in detail, but she was observant enough to know that something was up).

"Holy crap," Toph was the first to recover, "this is turning out like a bad soap opera."

"Tell me about it," I rolled my eyes. "Look, if you guys don't mind, I'm just gonna go after lunch. I already cleared it past the principal. I need some time to think."

"Are you sure you don't want some company?" Katara asked, and my heart sputtered and thudded in my chest (Toph grinned like the Cheshire cat).

"I'm sure," I said firmly, ignoring the protestations and mutiny going on in my head. "Some time in the skies is what I need right now."

We sat in silence for a second before Sokka started telling a joke about a monkey, a dog, and a bison who went to a bar, but I didn't rejoin the conversation. I was too stuck in my own pity-party hero angst to care.

True to my word, I took off right as lunch ended, launching myself into the blue. I would've loved to have Katara with me again, but I didn't want to think about losing her every time I was with her. It was too painful a thought. I hated being down and depressed like this; it wasn't me. I burst out of funks faster than anyone else I knew. But this was one big mess I didn't know how to clean up. It kept coming back to the one question: if I were my evil twin, how would I beat me?

So I thought about Aeng and everything I knew about her as I loop-the-looped lazily. She had all my moves, all my skills, all my strengths. She was invincible.

No…no she didn't. Her bending style was different. Hard as it was, I thought back on the visions of my dead friends she'd shown me. They were each horribly mutilated and disfigured…_like they were bended upon_. It made perfect sense; she was my exact opposite. It stood to reason that an Anti would be skilled in the art of the perverse bending styles (bloodbending, bonebending, heatbending, breathbending; they were the evil ultimate in each bending discipline, and using each version of grossbending was addicting to someone with a dark heart. So much so that the evil master would eventually forget how to bend normally). Which meant…which meant that she was as weak with regular bending as I would be with grossbending. Unless she had an Anti state to my Avatar state, in which case we'd be evenly matched once again, but….

Roku's words came back to me, and I realized that while, yes, I had a very good reason for stressing, I didn't have as much to worry about. I'd beaten her before, and I could do it again.

I felt every tense muscle relax until I felt like a pile of warm jelly. A flying pile of warm jelly, I amended as I started losing altitude. The relief was so intense I almost crashed into a house.

Yeah, crap would hit the fan soon, but I could handle it. _We_ could handle it. Once again I had to remind myself that I wasn't alone. Sure, I didn't have another Avatar with spiritual powers like mine around, but my friends weren't helpless. They could handle a spirit if worse came to worst.

My phone buzzed, and I landed to see who it was from.

Katara. She only sent me one word, one word to chill me to the core.

_Aeng._

* * *

><p><em><em>A/N: Okay, I have some explaining to do.

Back when I first started writing Avatar fic, I wrote a ginormous trilogy, the second book of which was a next-gen book about the Gaang's kids that explored an underground pocket of airbenders and the possibility of there being similar bending styles to bloodbending. Hence, bonebending, heatbending, and breathbending came into being, as well as the lost airbending city of Gondaze (from Westeros "gond" for stone, and Japanese "kaze" for wind). Since I have an enormous ego, I couldn't resist adding in those bits of my dear old headcanons. I'm very sorry and I do NOT recommend searching out that old trilogy; I was fifteen when I first started, finished around age eighteen, and I still cringe and cry when I look at them. But those little bits of headcanon, I like. (For your info, Gondaze came into being because I wondered to myself if the airbenders back during Sozin's first attack hadn't managed to escape and secrete themselves away in the Earth Kingdom somewhere. It devolved from there.)

Um. Erm. Srs Aang is srs.

Let's move on, shall we?


	18. Chapter 17: Katara

Chapter Seventeen

**Sokka Kuruk** _thinks Mondays suck. A lot._

**Toph Bei Fong** _word_

* * *

><p>Katara's Playlist<p>

Song: _The Steward of Gondor_

Artist: _Pippin Took_

* * *

><p>Aang hadn't been gone more than five minutes before someone occupied his seat. I turned around to explain that the seat wasn't exactly open, but by the way Zuko's eyes widened I knew we were in trouble.<p>

"Hello," the girl who'd taken Aang's seat said calmly. "Please don't make a fuss, but I'm here to kill you."

Of course, that went over well; within seconds we'd turned over the table on top of her and started running. Sokka was right behind us when he stopped all of a sudden, his expression contorting and his mouth flapping open and shut. Toph screamed his name, running back to him as the rest of us followed. His hands scrabbled at his neck as his eyes bulged wider and wider, and I looked up to see the girl with her hand outstretched. Zuko was right; she looked remarkably like Aang. The crooked red arrow on her forehead stood vividly out against her pale skin, and her ragged dark hair had the same cowlick in the front Aang's did.

She didn't say anything, just kept her eyes on Sokka as he started turning purple. I did the first thing I thought of, and texted Aang, after which I called up water from the drinks machine and whipped it against her head. It went right through, but something like a flash of light zapped through Aeng and Sokka dropped all of a sudden, unconscious (I hoped). Aeng's eyes shifted, and Zuko started sweating. Seriously sweating; his shirt was soaked in seconds. Mai took her Swiss army knife out of her pocket and threw it at Aeng. Out of all of us she'd managed to keep her head; Toph was still by Sokka, hunched over him protectively and her head twitching around as she tried to locate Aeng, I was frozen with shock, holding my water uselessly. The knife went straight through Aeng's head like smoke, and Mai swore.

"That's got to be the best shot I ever made," she intoned, and Zuko screamed, smoke pouring out of his mouth. That was when Mai lost it, her hands fluttering as she tried to pinpoint the source of his pain.

Out of nowhere Aang burst in, crashing through the window and making everyone else in the restaurant who was stupid enough to stay get the heck out of there. He careened straight at Aeng and tackled her, bringing her to the ground. Zuko, who was on his knees at this point, tipped over, motionless as Sokka. A truly awful smell was emanating from him, but his chest was still heaving, so he wasn't…gone…yet. Toph was making soothing gestures over Sokka, so I knew he wasn't…you know…either. I ran to help Aang, but he snarled the second I moved.

"_Stay put!_" he growled, and I did, frozen in step. Aeng struggled under him as he pinned her by the throat, one hand crushing her esophagus, the other palm flat on her arrow. After a second he started glowing, the arrow on his shoulder shining through his t-shirt. What was weird was that Aeng started glowing, too, but not in the same way. Her arrows, eyes, and mouth all emanated a really strange black light. Black lights are usually purple and make colors pop under normal circumstances; this weirdness shining from her was more like a black hole, sucking all other lights into it. I went to Zuko, who was still panting harshly. Without further ado I regained control of myself and drew in all the water in the building, enveloping Zuko's entire body except for his face.

It was really, really bad. Most of his internal organs were half-cooked and I wasn't sure how he was still alive, but even as I mended where I could I knew it was no good. He wasn't going to make it. No one on earth could mend this. Mai knew it as surely as I did when I looked up at her. She wasn't tearing up, but she just looked…dead inside. Completely blank. Her mouth was a tight line and her eyes were hard.

I kept healing, knowing it was useless, knowing it wouldn't change anything. He was dying. I heard Sokka cough and wheeze behind me and knew he was alright, but…. I glanced at Aang. He was still conversing with Aeng, but she was getting fainter and fainter. Her head turned under Aang's hand, and she stared right at me. I felt my heart ice over as she looked at me, her eyes still glowing black, and she opened her mouth.

"Your time is coming," she said softly, her voice echoing like Aang's did. "I save the best for last, best friend. No one could ask for better." With that she finally disappeared, and I looked back at Zuko. His heart was barely beating, his breath shallow and faint. I kept trying, kept trying, but it just wasn't working. Zuko was going to die. A few ripples landed in the healing water and I sniffed, trying to keep my tears out of the healing water as best I could.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and turned my head to see Aang, still glowing. He put out his hands and gently took the water from me, and suddenly the water started glowing. Zuko's eyes flew open, and Aang started speaking.

"This life you are given," he said softly, his voice ringing with power, "is to be used in the betterment of yourself and the lives of your friends. It is borrowed, and must be given back when your time comes, after your life has been made rich in years and full in experience. With the blessing of Agni, live, Zuko Sozin."

The water splashed over the floor, falling and pooling around our legs as Zuko's breathing evened out and Mai shifted his head in her lap, showering him with kisses he returned in earnest. Aang stopped glowing, slumping; I pulled him upright and hugged him tightly, and after a minute his arms hung loosely around me.

"Is he okay?" he mumbled, and I nodded. "And Sokka?"

Belatedly I remembered my brother and let go of Aang, pulling up some more water and concentrating on his neck and head. Luckily, no serious brain damage (besides what was already there…too soon for jokes, I think), and his throat was healed easily enough. He winced and grinned.

"Thanks, sis," he said weakly, and then let Toph throw herself at him and squeeze him as tightly as she could around the chest.

"Um…lunch break is over," the cashier squeaked from where he was hiding behind the counter, but none of us paid much attention as we sat in silence, holding each other.

Of course, we had to get up and get out of there eventually. Zuko was unsteady on his feet, and for the first time I noticed that he had a dark red stripe in his hair. It was faint, almost unnoticeable against the rest of his hair, but when we stepped into the sun it became very prominent. Mai saw it and fluffed it a little, smiling.

"Just another manic Monday, huh?" Sokka said (his voice was still a little gravelly, from shock more than anything else, I think), and it took a second to sink in before we all started laughing.

* * *

><p>Aang was silent the entire way back to school. Out of respect for his feelings I didn't ask him about it until I informed him we were hanging out after school somewhere and we were both out of his van at the beach. My gift to Toph, I suppose: quality time with the boyfriend she almost lost today.<p>

"What happened?" I asked finally, and he didn't say anything, swinging his feet over the edge of the pier. I waited another minute or so before speaking again. "Don't shut me out. Tell me what went on when you were talking to her."

He sighed, but still didn't answer. A pelican flew overhead, swooped down, and scooped a fish in its bill before flying away with its prize.

"Fate's funny like that," he murmured. "We spend all our lives making something we can be proud of, but once we're gone, no one remembers once the dirt's been piled on our graves. We can die at any time, you know."

I tried to think of something to say, but he went on. "It makes you wonder what the point of all this is." He gestured out to the ocean. "All this beauty, all this life…what's the point if we can just die and lose it all? What's the point of living? What's the point of loving?"

"I think the point is that we get the opportunity," I replied, watching fish dance under the gentle waves. "We get to live because it's our chance to make something beautiful and meaningful." I hesitated, but wrapped my fingers around his. He looked at me, startled. "The point of loving," I said slowly, "is to complete the soul." I studied him for a moment. He was handsome and charming, and I think he knew it to some degree. His eyes, though dark at the moment, were the same they'd been at twelve when we first became friends. Almost effortlessly he started leaning towards me, and I felt my eyes start to close. He hovered inches from my face, and for a second I could feel the warmth of his body radiating out.

For whatever reason I was reminded of a time back in eighth grade when something very similar happened between us. We were just kids at the time, really, but even then I could feel the electricity humming between us. Nothing had happened, but still, it was a personal moment we both tried not to think about as we got older.

I felt the barest trace of a touch, and then pressure as he kissed me. This…this was nice. Simple. Uncomplicated. Something I'd been searching for, for a really long time. It didn't last longer than ten seconds at the most, but when he pulled back, it took all I had not to yank him back in. His eyes were much brighter than they'd been before, and within seconds his smile was back.

He didn't say anything, and I didn't say anything back; we went back to watching the sea and the fish jumping out of the waves and the gulls circling overhead.

* * *

><p>AN: Extremely short, but pretty pertinent, I think. Let's take it in order.

1. Yes, the chapters are out of order, and when I was originally writing them, I forgot about Katara's chapter. So I stuck it in here, and I like the effect.

2. Aeng is a master creeper. She crawlin' in your Taco Bells (or is this at Burger King? I can never remember), snatchin' your people up, and then strangling them and burning them from the inside out.

3. Aang makes contact with Ancient Spirits of Power. Please note that Sokka didn't need such assistance. It's important.

4. This awesome adorable kiss at the end? Not The Moment. It's Day of Black Sun kiss rather than Avatar Aang series finale kiss.

Onward!


	19. Chapter 18: Zuko

Chapter Eighteen

**Zuko Sozin** _finally got a good night's sleep._

* * *

><p>Zuko's Playlist<p>

Song: _Iridescent_

Artist: _Linkin Park_

* * *

><p>Burning from the inside out isn't something I would recommend to the general masses. The second Aeng started up...whatever it was she did...I just knew I was going to die. There was no way I was going to live past this pain. It made me angry more than scared. I never got to tell Mai one last time how much I loved her, or Azula how proud I was of her. I wouldn't get to see my uncle again, or even attempt to find my mother again. I wouldn't be able to tell my father that I forgave him.<p>

It's funny, but I didn't realize I didn't hate the man until seconds after I thought I was going to die. I mean, this is Ozai Sozin we're talking about here. He roasted half of my face, kicked me around, always put me down and made me feel like complete crap. What kind of nut _wouldn't_ hate their dad after going through something like that? But…I don't know. I guess dying kind of does that. It makes a person prioritize.

I remember blacking out, and suddenly I felt like I was floating. There was mist all around, like in my nightmares, and the world was dark. Aeng stood before me, holding the strange firebending position. I felt like a charred piece of meat. She suddenly glared at something behind me, and then coughed. She opened her mouth and flames licked the air.

"You will leave this place," a woman's voice intoned sternly. "Your power works here no longer."

Aeng choked on the flames, turning her furious eyes on me. She disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Suddenly it was light, impossibly bright. There was a woman there, tall and fierce-looking and wearing tribal stuff that looked like traditional robes from the ancient Sun Warrior civilization. Her expression was fathomless.

"It be a long time since a friend of fire such as you has grappled with the likes of the Anti," she said, her voice throaty and cadence odd. "You are a brave man, a brave friend."

I couldn't find anything to say. I wasn't sure exactly who I was talking to, but I felt completely at ease. That didn't usually happen. She took a step or two forward, placing her hand on my forehead.

"You are gravely injured," she continued, and I nodded. I surmised as much. "The earth clamors to lay claim to your flesh."

"I'm ready," I said calmly, waiting for her to take my soul away. She smiled.

"There be a young woman who is not so ready," she replied. "Her soul, it cries in anguish. She prays. Long has it been since the ears of Agni have heard the heart of Mai friend of blades."

I felt like I should bow or something, but her hand was still on my forehead and I was too caught up in remembering Mai to much register that the ancient deity of my people was speaking to me.

"She's not going to take my leaving easily," I said quietly, and Agni nodded. "I'm going to miss her. And the others."

Agni's head twitched upwards for a moment, and then she smiled again. "Many cry for you, even the Avatar. He begs now for my blessing."

I didn't know what to say. Perhaps there wasn't anything to be said. She breathed deeply, the pads of her fingers pressing more firmly into the top of my head.

"This life you are given," she said softly, her voice suddenly fused with one I recognized as Aang's, "is to be used in the betterment of yourself and the lives of your friends. It is borrowed, and must be given back when your time comes, after your life has been made rich in years and full in experience. With the blessing of Agni, live, Zuko Sozin."

When she was done she removed her hand, her mouth quirking upwards a little. "We will meet again," she assured, "but until the time come, my mark, it shall be on you. Farewell, Zuko friend of fire."

Everything faded into a dimmer light, and I blinked slowly. To my utter shock all the pain was gone. I let my eyes flutter open for a minute, and Mai was there (I supposed my head was in her lap), her expression so relieved it was painful. When she saw my eyes open her mouth cracked in a smile, which I returned. With no more ado she lowered her head and kissed every inch of my face she could reach.

"Um…lunch break's over," the cashier squeaked from behind the counter, and I looked at the others. Sokka was alright, Toph helping him sit upright, and Aang was looking weaker, leaning on Katara. We sat still for a few minutes, and then Aang struggled upright, pulling himself up by the nearest table. Mai pulled me up next, and then Sokka heaved himself up. I was still ridiculously weak in the knees, and Mai pulled my arm around her shoulder and helped me hobble outside, working the feeling back into my legs. Once outside she glanced at my hair and ran her fingers through a part of it, grinning.

"Agni left you a present," she whispered, so quietly only I could hear her, just as Sokka made a comment I almost missed.

"Just another manic Monday, huh?"

He had no idea.

* * *

><p>Back at school I paid absolutely no attention in any of my classes, most of the time hunched over and testing to make sure my insides were still working right. It rattles you up, dying. Instead of listening to anything my teachers said I made a list of everything I wanted to do before the end of the month. It was a long one, but I was determined. The top of that list was something I knew wouldn't happen overnight, but I could start it this afternoon. Tonight, I amended; Mai deserved some special attention before I addressed the rest of my list. She was the reason I was alive, after all. Azula was hanging out with Jet most afternoons, so I kidnapped Mai with no problems and drove down to our old childhood hangout and the one place I never took anyone else, an old movie theatre on a strip I owned but never did anything with. We found our way to our favorite seats and I pulled her onto my lap, letting her relax against me and just breathe. Typically we didn't say anything; we talked, sure, but most of the time we didn't have anything to say.<p>

Today was different. She kept stroking my hair, her head nestled against the curve of my neck. I considered my words carefully for a moment before throwing them out and deciding to wing it.

"She's proud of you," I said softly, and she paused in stroking my hair.

"Who?" she asked, a hint of confusion in her voice.

"Agni," I replied. "She told me she hadn't heard from you in a while and your prayers saved me."

Mai pressed her lips against the red streak in my hair (I had to admit, it looked pretty cool) before answering.

"It wasn't so much praying as screaming at the Spirit World," she responded. "I just couldn't…I can't face losing you. You're the one thing in this spirit-forsaken world I can fall back on and not be scared to trust. If you left…" she trailed off, then shook her head. "Never mind. You're back, and you're not leaving for a long time. That's what matters to me."

"I love you," I said, and there was a pause. Neither one of us had actually said that to each other yet, and to be honest, before today, it wasn't on my pressing list of things to say to her. I figured she knew, just like I knew she really cared about me, too. It was out in the open now, and I wouldn't take it back even if I could. She put her fingers under my chin and rotated my head over towards hers, and I saw that she had a smile on her face.

"It's about time someone said it," she smiled, and I grinned back. "Love you, too." After that, there weren't many words said at all for quite some time.

* * *

><p>"Hello?"<p>

Even over the phone my dad intimidated me. He sounded grumpy, as usual, but the usual bite to his voice was gone. He couldn't firebend anymore, so his greatest weapon was gone, but he still had Ozai Inc., and that gave him enough power to make someone's life uncomfortable. I swallowed hard before answering.

"Hi, Dad."

"Zuko?" He sounded surprised, which I supposed was a step forward. He didn't hang up on me right away, anyway.

"Yeah. It's me." I searched for something else to say. "Um…how are you?"

"What's wrong and how much money do you need?" he replied, his regular bored tone back. I frowned.

"I don't want your money," I protested, "I just want to talk. Face-to-face."

He sighed. "I just don't have any time to meet, Zuko. My day is filled, every second."

"Then why did you pick up your phone?" I challenged, growing discouraged.

"I'm waiting on a call from…someone." He hesitated for a second. "Maybe some other time."

"No," I said, scowling (although he couldn't see it), "pencil me in somewhere. You always did this to me as a kid, but I'm not a kid anymore. Make time. We need to talk."

There was a long silence, and I was afraid he'd hung up on me. After a minute or two of this he spoke again.

"I have an hour free Friday night," he finally said. "Seven-thirty, my house. I hope this is important."

"It is," I replied, relieved. "Thanks, Dad."

He hung up, and I put the phone back in its cradle, humming with nervous energy. I couldn't believe this was actually happening. I hadn't seen my old man for months. It would be…not nice, but pleasant, I guess, to see him again. I sat at the table for a minute or two, listening to the pipes creak and the floor groan. I got so absorbed in listening to silence that it scared the crap out of me when the door opened suddenly. My uncle ambled in, shaking rainwater out of his beard and ponytail and smiling.

"Long time no see, nephew," he said cheerfully, tossing his wet jacket over his umbrella stand. "I thought you'd be making time with your sweetheart."

"She had stuff to do," I grinned. It really had been a while since I'd seen Uncle Iroh; I doubt he even knew about the fact I'd almost died yesterday. That made me feel guilty. If anyone had the right to know, surely the man who raised me like I was his own son deserved to. I debated on what to say, but as he passed by me, the addition to my appearance caught his eye and he turned, touching it.

"A new dye job?" he asked, then frowned. "That's odd. It's warmer than the rest of…of…" he studied it closely, then straightened, taking the chair across the tiny table from me. He didn't say anything for a moment, and I didn't look at him until he spoke. To my utter surprise, he seemed on the verge of tears. "How close to death did you come for Agni to bless you as she did?"

I should have known. My uncle was the most spiritual person I knew (Aang excluded); of course he would have caught it. I looked up at him and saw bright drops beading in his eyes.

"Very, very close," I finally said. "Closer than I'd ever like to be again."

"Is there," he said slowly, "a reason why I was not informed?"

I cursed my stupidity. "No, uncle, no good reason besides my own idiocy. I'm sorry, I should have told you yesterday, but—"

"Yesterday?" Uncle's jaw dropped. "What happened?"

I related the story to him, and he bowed his head, deep in thought.

"I would have thought you'd tell me if anything was wrong," he said gently. I almost wished he'd yell at me; this was guilt-tripping to the maximum degree. "Why did you keep this from me?"

"I dunno," I shrugged. "I just…we were just…you've been busy, and I didn't want to bug you about it."

"Nothing you say could bug me, Zuko," Iroh replied. "From now on, please try to keep me informed, okay? I worry about you."

"I know you do," I half-smiled. "Feel like playing some Wii?"

"Only if you feel ready to lose to your aging uncle, nephew," Iroh grinned, and I stood as he did, returning his banter and feeling like another weight was taken off my chest (it should be known that he did, indeed, beat me harshly at Mario Kart Racing).

* * *

><p>I looked up at my father's hillside mansion and swallowed. He said he only had an hour, and it was seven twenty-five. I pulled into the driveway and waited until it was seven twenty-eight before getting out. At seven-thirty exactly I rang his doorbell, and it was answered by a short little woman in a smock. She curtsied and opened the door wider so I could enter, and she guided me towards my father's study. She knocked on the door, and I heard him respond, but my ears were too full of my heartbeat to hear much of what was said. She opened the door, and I saw the familiar old Punishment Chair, as I called it then. It was wooden, stiff, and uncomfortable, meant to inspire fear to be sitting in it, but I didn't feel anything but a sort of fond loathing for it. I stepped into the room and almost didn't recognize the man behind the desk.<p>

Back in his prime his dark hair was cropped short and slicked back, looking sleek and…vampiric, I guess you could say. He also had a short tab of beard on his chin but otherwise was clean-shaven. Now…his hair was almost to his shoulders and messy, his face covered in scruff. When he looked like that I could really see the resemblance between him and his brother. He had a half-empty bottle of firewater sitting in front of him and a glass with melting ice in it. Though he looked steady for the moment, I knew how quickly that could change if he had too much from the bottle. He didn't look at me until I was seated in the chair, and then he rested his cheek against his fist, surveying me with bored eyes.

"Let's make this quick," he said. "What do you want from me?"

"I want you to listen," I said, trying not to scowl at him. "Can you do that for me?"

He shrugged, reaching for the bottle.

"Ever since I was a kid you've been a real monster to me," I began, and he snorted, tipping the bottle towards his glass. "You've done a lot of things that most fathers would end up in prison with domestic violence charges for." I indicated my scar and he ignored me. "I saw sense and abandoned you, letting the Avatar exact justice on you, and that's something I'm not going to regret." He snorted again, picking up the glass and swirling it around. "A few days ago I had a brush with death, and that's gotten me thinking…Dad, if you're willing to accept it, I want to say that I forgive you."

The glass froze halfway to his mouth, and he set it down slowly.

"I'm sorry, did I hear you correctly?" he asked. "You _forgive_ me? If anything, you should be _apologizing_ for leaving me at the mercy of that child, for betraying me and your family."

"And you should be apologizing for a crappy childhood and a messed-up father-son relationship," I returned. "And for abandoning both of your children. Were you there when Azula got released from the hospital? Were you there for her when she was adjusting to normal life? Did you even know that she's got a boyfriend and friends who care about her?"

"I wasn't aware she was released," Ozai said shortly. "I was never told."

"Yes, you were," I countered. "The hospital informed me you never answered their calls. Your own favorite kid and you couldn't even muster a fatherly bone in your body to visit her." I let a breath go. "I'm not holding problems between you and Azula against you; that's between you and her. But…Dad, I'm serious, I'm not angry about anything that you did to me anymore. I'm not mad at you anymore."

He didn't answer for a long time. Finally, he picked up his glass and tossed it in the trash can beside his desk. "I think it's time for you to go."

I stood and turned to go, then turned back and held out my hand. He stared at it.

"I hope we get the chance to talk again," I said sincerely, and hesitantly he shook my hand. "Whenever you have a free moment, call me up."

He nodded shortly and I left, feeling oddly satisfied. Sure, he hadn't really listened to a word I said, but it was a start. Azula probably wouldn't be thanking me when he got around to talking to her, but this busted family wasn't going to fix itself in a phone call or two.

Now on to the next thing on my list.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Katara?" I touched her shoulder, and she spun around from talking to Aang. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"<p>

"Sure," she shrugged, putting down her books and following me to the opposite corner of the courtyard. I noticed she was smiling a whole lot more than she was just a few days ago.

"What's up?" she asked, and I grinned.

"I could ask you the same thing," I replied, and she just shrugged.

"Good day," she said vaguely, but her eyes flicked back to Aang.

"Uh-huh," I chuckled, and she flushed. "Look, this isn't going to come out easy, so just bear with me, okay?"

"Okay," she nodded, but her voice was guarded.

"Look, what happened in January…it was my fault," I said. "Don't go off thinking…uh…I mean…I'm sorry," I finally said, and her eyes widened. "When you said you loved me, I shouldn't have freaked out like that. It's kind of a good thing we broke up, I guess, because I've got Mai again and you and Aang are…okay, but it shouldn't have ended that way."

Katara looked taken aback, but she smiled. "It was my fault, too," she replied. "I shouldn't have yelled at you. Friends?"

"Friends," I held out my fist and she bumped it with her own, then hugged me. It was brief, friendly, and relieving as another weight kicked itself off my load. Aang looked at me suspiciously when we got back, but Katara distracted him from being jealous soon enough.

* * *

><p>The world was black mist again. Her voice echoed in my ears, her words overlapping and blending….<p>

_Death finds those who cheat her. You are not supposed to be here. Why didn't you die? Why? Didn't I do it right? Do I have to try again? I'll try again. Again. Again. Again._

Her face swam to the front of my vision, that sad expression twisted in concentration…I opened my mouth to start screaming again….

Suddenly a bright flame erupted in front of me, and Agni stood between me and obliteration.

"You have no power here," Aeng whispered, then screamed as her eyes suddenly burst into flames.

"Your power be useless against me, child of evil," Agni spat. "I be stronger than any Avatar, for I am fire itself. And fire, it does not submit, it only works with the desires of one worthy to wield it. Zuko Prince of Fire be under the protection of Agni. Leave his dreams and haunt them no more."

Though her eyes were still on fire, Aeng glared at me, and suddenly her eyes cooled. She looked completely unscathed. She disappeared, and Agni turned to me.

"The Anti, she will bother you no more," she said, and her hand pressed to my forehead again. "You be free from her. Sleep, Zuko Prince of Fire. Sleep and dream and live."

I woke up the next morning more refreshed than I'd been in months. I ran a hand through my hair and felt the red stripe (I knew where it was because, as Uncle said, it was constantly a few degrees warmer than the rest of my hair).

For once in my life, I felt completely safe. Unfettered. It wasn't over, but I knew that so long as I had Agni and my friends on my side, I could do anything. With that thought, I got up and started getting ready for school. Azula stuck her head inside my room as I pulled a shirt over my head.

"Morning," she said brightly. "I didn't hear a thing from your room last night. Good sleep?"

"The best," I grinned. "No more bad dreams for this guy."

"That's great to hear," she grinned. It seemed to freeze on her face, and I gulped. "By the way, what did you say to Dad when you went to visit him?"

I considered jumping out the window, but by then it was too late; she'd already thrown her shoes at me, and it was war.

* * *

><p>AN: I really, really, really, really like this chapter, overall. I like seeing Zuko finally try to fix all his problems rather than avoid them.

Also, remember, way back when, when I said I'd drawn quite a few influences from my ginormous trilogy that included grossbending and the lost airbenders?

These spirits were part of that. Agni has a delightfully odd speech pattern that I adore about her, but after so long of not reading or writing her, it's almost...TOO odd. Oh, well.

Future appearances from other ancient deities to come later.

Also, I haven't been giving Iroh ANY attention and this chapter was him scolding me, too. I feel properly ashamed, even after all this time.


	20. Chapter 19: Toph

Chapter Nineteen

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Lee Yu

Come on Toph cant we just talk this out

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Lee Yu

U cant ignore me 4ever

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Lee Yu

I messed up and im really sorry can we just talk

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Toph

this is sokka leave my gf alone or ill break ur legs instead of ur nose

* * *

><p>Toph's Playlist<p>

Song: _Green Eyes_

Artist: _Coldplay_

* * *

><p>It was almost the end of final exams before something really noteworthy happened after the last attack. Sokka was nervous about the last exams of his high school days, and I was nervous about what would happen afterwards. As usual, we kept our worries to ourselves and pretended like nothing was happening. We were amazingly stupid that way, I think.<p>

I was helping Sokka study for his last final (Chemistry II) when my phone went off again. I knew who it was because Sokka made me a custom ringtone for that number: _Don't pick me up, it's a creeper calling!_ Lee Yu had been trying to get back into my good books for a month now, with satisfyingly little results. Sokka finally got distracted after the third or fourth time and texted him back, which effectively ended the stalking.

"Man," he chuckled, "you're a magnet for weirdos."

"One guy hardly constitutes me as a magnet," I informed him, leaning towards him from my seat on the couch and kissing him as he was sitting on the floor. I could feel his smile when I pulled back. "Come on, we've still got half a study guide to go through."

"It can wait," he countered, sliding the study guide (my Braille version; he'd made Braille copies of all his exam study guides for this purpose) out of my hands and pulling me onto his lap. My phone went off again after another few minutes, and Sokka detached, sighing exaggeratedly.

"Permission to turn your phone off, Commander?" he asked, reaching around me for my phone on the couch cushion by the one I'd been sitting on. I frowned and turned around.

"Hang on a sec," I replied, opening the text. My phone has an option where it reads every text I get out loud to me, and this one was from Katara.

"Sokka's not answering his phone, so could you tell him I need a ride home? Thanks."

"A ride home?" Sokka repeated as I sat back up on the couch. "Where's Aang?"

"You'd better find out," I said darkly. Sokka called Aang, and after a few rings he picked up.

"Yeah?" Aang answered (Sokka's phone is really loud, so I could hear the conversation perfectly).

"Where's Katara?" Sokka responded in a voice that suggested Aang was about to lose a vital organ. "I thought she was with you."

"She's not," Aang replied shortly. "I don't know where she is."

"Well, where did you see her last?" Sokka's voice gained volume.

"Two Bridges. She…that is, we…"

Sokka growled, and Aang got over his indecisiveness real quick.

"We got in a fight and she ran off. I can't find her, and I've been looking for almost an hour, okay?" Aang sighed. "I'm sure she's fine, but I don't feel like talking to her any more than she probably wants to talk to me, so if she's gotten in touch with you, could you just make sure she's safe?"

Sokka sighed, and I winced. Aang and Katara in a fight? That didn't sound natural.

"Sure," he shrugged. "Just so you know, tofu breath, we're going to have a talk about this later. A _long_ talk." I laughed at Aang's audible gulp.

Sokka's next order of business was to call Katara, and she answered her phone on the first ring.

"I don't really want to know what happened," Sokka said before she could open her mouth, "but you get back to that kid and work out your problems. I don't want to hear it," he talked over her protest, "because the universe is on a collision course with oblivion so long as you two aren't on speaking terms. Do you really want to end the universe?" He tapped my knee and I silently laughed with him as Katara tried to explain that she really didn't want to talk to Aang right now. "The _universe_, Katara. No, I can't and won't come get you, because I'm busy right now." His hand became more of a caress on my knee. I was suddenly thankful I'd shaved my legs. "Go forth, little sister. Chop, chop." He hung up the phone and deposited me back where I was. "Now, where were we?"

* * *

><p>"Feel like chancing a guess as to what our resident Perfect Almost-Couple argued about?" I asked sometime later as Sokka absently tapped out a rhythm on his leg. Something stupid was on TV and neither one of us was paying much attention to it, being snuggled up together and all.<p>

"Hopefully they were discussing finally getting it over with and declaring themselves official," Sokka replied sagely. At that moment the door flew open, and Sweetness herself stormed in, slamming the door behind her.

"What," she started in, planting herself in front of the couch (at least, that's what I imagined her doing), "was so important that you couldn't come get me?"

"Studying," Sokka replied smoothly, indicating the books spread on the floor. She _tsked_.

"Studying or snogging?" she asked bluntly, and I snorted. Who said "snogging" in serious conversation?

"Maybe a little bit of both," Sokka shrugged, his arm squeezing me a little. "Speaking of snogging, you and Aang work everything out?"

"No," Katara said, stomping her foot (no joke, she actually stomped), "because I didn't want to talk about it! Geez, Sokka, next time I ask for you to pick me up—"

"If it has anything to do with a lover's quarrel, sis, you should know me better than that," he admonished, still retaining supreme indifference. I was impressed. "What happened to Aang, anyway?"

"He drove me home," she said after a minute.

"Aw, wasn't that sweet of him?" Sokka hinted.

"Not when he kept wanting to talk about what I didn't," Katara grumped.

"Look, either tell us what you argued about, or stop blocking the TV," I said innocently, and she sighed impatiently. Sokka chuckled, fist-bumping me.

"It's nothing important, really," she waved her hand, and I sat up.

"If it's not important, why did you pitch a complete hissy fit over it?" I crossed my arms. "Details, Sugar Queen, or I'll have to mercilessly make out with your brother while you watch."

"You could do that anyway," Sokka suggested, but I acted like I ignored him and kept my expression pointed towards Katara.

"Look, it's not a big deal," she protested. "Aang and I kinda kissed a few weeks ago—"

"_Finally!_" Sokka and I said simultaneously. Katara made a funny grunt in the back of her throat and kept talking.

"—and in discussing what should happen next Aang suggested something I don't think I'm ready for," she finished. "It's not a big—"

"Katara," Sokka said in a pained voice, sitting up and massaging his temples, "are you aware that that kid's been madly in love with you since he was twelve?"

"And are you aware," I added, "that you kissing him and then saying you're not ready to commit is likely to break his fragile little heart?"

"And are you aware," Sokka picked up, and I could hear the smile growing on his face; it was growing on mine as we started joking around now, "that he's the Avatar?"

"And are you aware that he was voted 'Cutest Guy in School' in the yearbook this year?" I continued.

"And are you aware that he looks at you with the most pathetic puppy-dog eyes I've ever seen?" Sokka fired back, and I grinned in answer.

"And are you aware that he has very nice arms and abs?" I returned, which left Sokka mouthing and Katara blushing (I was sure she was; I couldn't see so well through the carpet, but I was pretty sure her heartbeat sped up).

"Okay, okay, shut up," Katara complained. "Yes, I'm aware that Aang is a…very, very nice guy, but I don't think it's in his best interest—or the world's interest—if he's distracted with a girlfriend right now. Not until this thing with Aeng blows over, at least."

"You have a point," Sokka frowned.

"No, she doesn't," I disagreed. "He's distracted by you, Katara, official or not. You might as well make it easier on everyone by not spurning the poor kid."

"I didn't _spurn_—"

"That's what it's called when you turn down a guy's proposal, Katara," Sokka sighed. "Uh…proposal…of…girlfriend-boyfriend…ness…"

"Look, give it some time to cool off," I took over the pep talk, "and tomorrow you can talk to him again about it. Just don't try to tell him you don't feel anything, because everyone and their dog knows you're lying, okay?"

Katara nodded and walked out, and as soon as she was in her room Sokka turned to me.

"How do you know about Aang's arms and abs?" he asked in a hurt voice. I smiled and traced a finger around his chest.

"A girl has her ways," I teased, and before he could reply I kissed him again.

* * *

><p>I was on my way home that night (literally, in transit between Sokka's car and my front door) when I heard a snapping twig. This wouldn't have been so weird if there weren't any bushes or anything anywhere close to our driveway, and nothing but Sokka's car and the guards as far as I could sense.<p>

The next thing I heard was Sokka swearing, and then I started running, swerving around his car and out into the driveway. I could hear something coming after me, but I couldn't see it, and that unnerved me more than anything.

"What are you doing?" Sokka howled, and I could hear him trying to follow me and whatever was giving chase. "Why didn't you get in the car?"

I didn't have time to explain. Even relying on my ears I knew I couldn't outrun this thing forever; it sounded like a walking tree. It lunged, because I heard the wind whistle as it missed me and felt a hum past my cheek. I started zig-zagging.

My foot caught on something in the driveway that felt an awful lot like a root, and I felt vines or branches or some kind of wooden planty thing curl around my middle and haul me up. It wasn't until I felt a sudden change in direction (downwards) that I realized what was happening, and upon impact with the ground I punched a crater that lessened my bodily damage. It still hurt, and the tree lifted me to smash me like a coconut again.

I heard a whirr in the air, and something jarred the tentacle (or vine, or branch, or whatever the crap it was) holding me. The spirit made a sound for the first time, a weird sort of warbling growl. The thing that hit the spirit whirred back around the other way, and I knew what it was—Sokka's boomerang. I didn't think he'd started carrying it around again.

The spirit dropped me, and a second after making contact with sweet earth again I was again bothered by the fact that I couldn't see where it was. Sokka's arms were around me in seconds, pulling me away from the flump of something that was probably the spirit's foot coming down.

"It's a tree," Sokka said hysterically, picking me up and running. "It's a—" he said several words not polite in most company, "—tree spirit."

I assumed he'd called Aang, because not two seconds later the Twinkletoes in question came roaring out of nowhere. I could hear him shouting something at the tree that didn't sound much like what Aang would normally say. For one, it was filled with terrible, filthy language.

"He's really letting it have it tonight," Sokka said as he kept running out of range. I could hear the ground exploding and Aang yelling, and I scowled.

"We've got to go back," I said, and Sokka ignored me. I punched his shoulder. "We've got to go back! Aang can't handle it by himself!"

"Sure he can," Sokka replied, but his words were empty as he started turning back around. "Look, you can't see the thing and I'm useless in this situation. We're dead weight."

"So tell me where to aim, smart guy," I argued back, and Sokka sighed.

"Straight ahead," he said, setting me on my feet, and in answer I sent a column of earth barreling towards the spirit (I hoped). The screech told me I'd at least gotten its attention, and I ran away from Sokka, out in the open. If this is what I thought it was, I thought grimly, might as well give Aang a distraction.

"Hey!" I yelled, and the tree spirit shrieked in answer. "You want me? I'm right here, big guy! Come and get it!"

But as I reveled in my own invincibility, two teenage guys screamed my name and I felt…something. Around my sternum. Almost like it was growing. It didn't feel good. Almost like I was taking a deep breath, but it kept on growing and growing…I put my hand to my chest and to my utter disturbance felt a lump. As I probed it grew bigger and my discomfort evolved into pain. Quite suddenly I felt a spike of something wet and sharp burst through my skin, my clothes, and more out of shock than pain I screamed. I felt another lump lower down, on the right side of my ribcage, and with more speed it grew into another spike. Just as I felt one coming out of my other side it abruptly stopped, a protuberance far enough out to feel just wrong but not to break the skin. I couldn't scream. I felt numb. My body kept rejecting the pain, blacking it out, blacking _me_ out.

I found myself on my knees, and then on my back, unable to remove my hands from whatever was growing out of my chest, holding it tight like it was a knife and I could just yank it out…but I couldn't yank it out, because it was part of my body, and yanking would undoubtedly…but I couldn't finish the thought. My head swam. I couldn't hear anything but my heartbeat as it slowed, and I knew I was either going into shock or dying or both. If I could see my vision would be blurring…but it seemed to be blurring anyway….

Quite suddenly I found myself kind of floating in a sea of silver. I didn't know how I knew that's what it was, I just did. There was a girl there, and I could see every part of her so clearly I would have stared at her forever if I wasn't so sure this was Aeng.

She didn't smile, she just looked at me, and I felt a hand on my shoulder. Looking up, I saw that the hand belonged to a stern, buff man with a beard and clothes I'd only heard of being described in history books.

"You're safe, little one," he said, his voice as stony as his face, and Aeng blinked. I felt a twinge around my ribs, and the hand tightened; Aeng coughed, then choked; she doubled over, and a large amount of sand fell out of her mouth. "Begone, she-devil, and haunt someone else."

Just like that Aeng disappeared, and the hand on my shoulder loosened.

"We don't have much time," the man spoke as I turned around to look at him. "The Avatar is doing his best to heal you, but his efforts are meaningless without me helping him." He crossed his arms. "Well? Do you want to live or not?"

"Heck yes I do!" I replied, mimicking his gesture. "Do you realize how lost they'll be without me?" It was a joke, but it didn't come out sounding like one. The man nodded shortly. Then he placed his hand over my heart (but not in a weird pervert kind of way; he's a spirit, so I don't think he meant anything but good by it).

"Then by the authority of the Avatar and by the power of the earth and Shu who wields it," the man said, and as he spoke I heard Aang's voice, "be healed and receive my mark of protection. This chance of life is not only for your use, but for you to use it helping and being of use to others. Second chances are not given lightly, nor should they be treated as such." He winked as he finished. "So I don't want to be seeing you around here for a long, long time, okay, kid?"

"Sure," I nodded, still unsure if I was having a lucid dream or if this was really happening. Shu bowed his head, and I bowed deeper to show respect. If my hunch was correct, he was probably one of the first earthbenders in existence and the Earth spirit to boot, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to show reverence. Even as I did it I could feel blackness returning to my world, and I came to with something heavy on my chest. Aang's hands, it turned out, one where the huge spike in my sternum used to be, the other healing up my left side. Sokka's legs were under my head, his head hanging over mine. I put my hand up and touched his cheek.

"Hey," I said weakly, and he swore and praised multiple deities all in one breath, pressing his lips to my forehead. Aang sat back, sighing.

"You've got to be kidding me," he said wearily. "I thought she was done."

"Nope," I replied, sitting up gingerly (I wasn't used to not having bone spikes sticking out of me yet; the feeling was too fresh). "Remember? Sokka kinda died once, and so did Zuko; it's me next, then Katara, and then she'll be done. Come to think of it, why hasn't she come back for Sokka and Zuko?"

"I frightened her off," Sokka teased, but there was no mirth in his voice as he rocked me back and forth. Aang buried his head in his hands; I could hear his fingers rasping through his hair.

I extricated myself from Sokka and sat down by Aang. After a minute I punched him, as hard as I could, in the arm. He was bowled over on his side, rubbing his arm furiously.

"What was that for?" he fumed, and I grinned, putting my arm around him (he flinched, then relaxed when he made sure I wasn't going to hurt him again).

"The punch was for being a baby when you need to be the Avatar," I explained. "Look, part of being the Avatar is watching horrible things happen to your friends. That came out wrong. What I meant was…um…"

"Part of being the Avatar is being human," Sokka clarified, and I nodded. "You can't be everywhere at once, and sometimes bad things happen. But a definite perk is being an all-powerful being who can call good spirits down to help your friends survive. We've made it this far, and we're going to be there until the end, okay?"

"Yeah," I agreed, shaking Aang a little, "so man up, ask Katara out again, and stop whining about how we're getting hurt when we're just fine thanks to you, okay?"

Aang sniffed, and I smiled, giving up trying to reach across his shoulders and settling for hugging his head. "Are you crying?"

"Maybe," he nodded, and I ruffled his hair.

"She's the last one left," I reminded gently, "so it would be a good idea to get off her bad list so she'll be around you again, okay? And don't worry about me." I touched my chest, right over my heart where the hole in my shirt still was, and felt a slightly raised bump against my skin that felt suspiciously like the ancient Earth Kingdom symbol of strength. It occurred to me that I'd kinda been flashing both my boyfriend and my guy friend and I wrapped my arms around my chest.

"Come on," Sokka laughed, putting his arm around me. "Let's get you inside and dressed. Thank Aang your parents aren't home."

"Sure you guys are okay?" Aang called after us, and I looked over my shoulder to give him a devious grin.

"Two's company," I said, "three's more fun."

"Okay, okay, leaving!" Aang retched, and I felt him kick off into the sky again. Sokka shook me a little.

"What's with you today?" he asked. "I swear, you've been cracking the most awful jokes." He kissed the top of my head. "Not saying I don't like the hilarious results, but…"

I shrugged and let him lead me back to my house. He paused in front of my door, and I sighed, taking his hand and leading him into my house and to my room. He dragged his feet a little before I could get him inside.

"I dunno, Toph, your dad will kill me if he finds out I've been in here," he said anxiously, and I grinned.

"What?" I said innocently. "It's not like you're some villain with dishonorable intentions, is it?" He didn't answer, and I forgot about the hole in my shirt as I drew up closer to him, putting my hands on my hips. "Is it?"

His heartbeat started going wild. One of his cold fingers touched the symbol on my chest, and I resisted the urge to shy away.

"It's green," he said quietly, then turned away, towards my closet. I stifled my sigh. "Let's see…something decent for Toph to wear…"

He pulled out a huge t-shirt (which I didn't find out until he shoved it in my hands and locked himself in my closet until I changed). Once I was proclaimed decent he came out of my closet (we appropriately joked it to death) and sat next to me on my bed.

When I thought he almost died, I couldn't stop blubbering about how I couldn't bear to lose him. Now that our roles were reversed, he didn't say a word, and I was starting to worry. Was it just because I was a girl and I panicked? Were his feelings not as strong as I thought?

His arm came around me and pulled me to his chest, and after a minute he started humming. I knew the song well; he'd dedicated it to me one night as we danced in the parking lot with this song blaring on the radio. It made his chest vibrate, and I knew he was telling me, in the only way his poor male emotionally-stunted macho personality could, that he loved me.

This time words weren't necessary. Neither was face-sucking. I knew exactly what he meant, and he knew what I meant when I snuggled deeper into his arms and hummed along.

* * *

><p>AN: Eeheeheehee

Say hello to the Earth Spirit, Shu, that same Shu who fell in love with a woman named Oma and was killed in battle, causing her to raise a mountain in his honor. He gets the honor of being the embodiment of the Earth spirit; she gets the honor of being the spirit of love and protection. However, Oma doesn't show up in this story.

If you're wondering what the song Sokka's humming is, look back at Toph's playlist selection.

Also, forgot to include this: Sokka punched Lee Yu's lights out, but Toph doesn't need to know that.

Ummmm...yeah, I think that's the extent of this chapter's notes.


	21. Chapter 20: Sokka

Chapter Twenty

**Sokka Kuruk** _just so everyone knows, the next person to ask me how i'm feeling will get punched in the face._

* * *

><p>Sokka's Playlist<p>

Song: _Club Can't Handle Me_

Artist: _Flo Rida ft. David Guetta_

* * *

><p>I don't want to talk about what was going through my head when I saw Toph drop to her knees. I don't want to talk about the expression on Aang's face when he saw what was happening. I especially don't want to talk about how she looked with her ribcage all…screwed up. It should be enough that I was terrified and Aang healed her up.<p>

It wasn't, of course; Katara wouldn't stop badgering me about it, and the fact that something had gone down at the Bei Fong estate made for good gossip at school. Today was the last day for seniors; the rest of the underclassmen had another week to go. Once I turned in that last exam and was given the go-ahead by the principal to cut loose, I was out in that parking lot screaming with the rest of them. Zuko, Mai, Haru, and Ty Lee all converged around my car, and I gave them all high-fives.

"We made it," I said, grinning. Ty Lee cheered and jumped up and down a few times.

"So…senior party?" Haru jangled his keys. "I hear the bowling alley is selling food at half price."

"You guys go on ahead," I said. "I'd just be a third wheel."

"The woes of dating a sophomore," Zuko grinned. He held out his fist, which I bumped. "Give her my best."

"Oh, is she okay?" Ty Lee interjected worriedly. "I heard she got attacked by something last night."

"She's fine," I replied shortly. Ty Lee was one of the friendlier people to ask, but she wasn't the first, and that's what irritated me. "Go on, you lovebirds, knock down some pins in the name of freedom."

"What are you gonna do?" Haru asked.

I shrugged. "I'll think of something. School doesn't let out for another three hours, so probably nothing." I waved them away, and they left, Zuko with his arm around Mai and Ty Lee clutching Haru's arm and chattering a mile a minute to the other three. I grinned for as long as I was sure they were still in range to look, then got in my car and leaned my head against the steering wheel.

After the…incident…last night, I'd stayed at Toph's house until she fell asleep, around midnight. I tucked her in and left, but despite the fact that I had exams today I didn't get any sleep. I couldn't. Every time I shut my eyes I saw her blank expression and the bone growing out of her chest, how it made her look almost like a shish kebob. Then I thought about how terrible it was to compare her to a shish kabob, then I got hungry, and I started driving to Burger King. I'd be back after school ended to pick her up, and then I was going to take her somewhere on a spontaneous romantic event. Aang and Katara were still awkward around each other, which was reason enough to vacate the premises as quickly as possible.

As I munched on my double stack, I turned the radio on and did anything I could to get the images out of my head. At one point I tried imagining a purple polka-dotted platypus bear balancing on a squishy rubber ball, but that didn't do anything but make me snort Coca-Cola up my nose and think about how Toph would laugh at my randomness.

I didn't like this. I wasn't a dweller, but seeing her like that just made me think of Yue again. I was there, right ahead of the cops, when she crashed into the semi. I was on my way to her house, actually, with a bouquet of flowers and plans to ask her to Homecoming. Then, just like that, she was gone. It was a mess. A bloody mess. Her truck was so mangled I could hardly find her in the wreckage. The part of the story they never told on Just Say No Day was how I had to be dragged away from the car kicking and screaming, my hands covered in blood from where I'd held her hand. For the barest second her fingers closed around mine, and then they went limp. I'd felt helpless back then, and I felt helpless yesterday. It just wasn't fair. At least Suki broke up with me before something bad happened to her.

"Calm down," I said to myself as I noticed I was squeezing the patties and sauce out of my burger. "She's okay. She's fine."

I wasted some time driving around town, then settled at the park and watched the ducks. When three thirty rolled around I drove back to the school and waited for Toph to come out.

"I thought you'd be long gone by now," she teased, tossing her stuff in the back of my car. Today she was wearing a black tank, under which the tippy-top of her new tattoo (or whatever it was) played peek-a-boo and made me swallow.

"Can't get rid of me so easily," I teased, putting the car in drive and leaving a fuming Katara and awkward-looking Aang to fend for themselves. Toph laughed.

"Ooh, she's going to be mad at you," she giggled. "She and Aang have hardly said anything to each other all day."

"And how about you?" I asked. "Have they said anything to you?"

"Aang checked up on how I was doing," she shrugged, "and Katara wanted to know what was going on, but Aang wouldn't tell her and I guess you didn't say anything, either, so I gave her the condensed version. You know, the version that _doesn't_ include a brush with death."

"Good," I said, laughing hollowly.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked, massaging my shoulder. I shrugged again. "Look, it's fine now, alright? No need to freak out over what's already passed."

"But I do," I replied. "Sorry, it's just…how quickly did you let it go, when I got slashed by that gargoyle?"

"That's different," she countered. "You took a few weeks to heal up. I'm fine right now."

"Okay," I conceded, "but still…I just can't get the images out of my head. It's just…it's like when…with Yue…"

"Oh," she said, then squeezed my shoulder. "You still miss her, huh?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

We didn't talk much as I drove, until Toph realized something.

"We're not going to my house, are we?" she asked.

"Nope," I shook my head.

"Okay, so where are we going?" She crossed her arms.

"Somewhere," I replied mysteriously, then grunted when she punched my arm. "Ouch. It's a surprise, okay?"

"Okay," she nodded slowly, and when she heard the crashing waves she laughed. "Any particular reason why we're at the beach?"

"Celebratory end-of-school picnic," I explained. "Y'know, kind of a job-well-done for me and a yay-you're-alive for you."

"I see," she nodded, and kicked off her shoe tops as I got out, opened up the trunk, and got out the picnic basket. On sand she couldn't see quite as well as she could on solid ground, but she could see well enough to know where everything was, and once we'd laughed and joked and ate our way through the sandwiches and Oreos I packed she snuggled up next to me.

"It's weird that I'm not going to hang with you at school," she sighed. "I'm going to miss you."

"Yeah, me, too," I said, putting my arm around her. "Well, it's not even five-thirty and we don't have to be at Zuko's until seven, so what do you want to do until then?"

She stretched up and kissed me. I grinned.

"I like this plan," I remarked, and she smiled back.

"Isn't it great?" she murmured, kissing me again. Her fingers wound in my hair, and quite suddenly my back was against the sand, my hands on her hips, where her shirt was starting to ride up a little. She grinned against my lips and I couldn't help but smile back.

* * *

><p>"You're late," Zuko accused as Toph and I walked through the door at eight, my arm around her shoulders. "Aang's already horked down all the chips."<p>

"Have not!" Aang protested across the room, and Zuko grinned.

"Well, they're certainly not safe now that I'm here," Toph declared, making her way to the snack table and punching Aang's arm. Zuko shut the door behind me and then chuckled.

"Dude, you've got sand all in your hair," he said, brushing off my shoulder where some of it accumulated, and I shrugged.

"Hazards of dating an earthbender," I replied lightly. "You get earth in all sorts of places."

"Okay, TMI much," Zuko stuck his tongue out, and I suddenly realized how that sounded.

"I meant, like, in my car and stuff, you perv," I grinned as I sat down on the couch. "Geez."

"That's hardly any better," Zuko pointed out, and Toph plopped in my lap, a plate of goodies in her hands.

That night we partied and danced and talked (even more so when Haru, Ty Lee, and Jet all showed up), even Katara, who was doing her best to avoid Aang. We weren't Avatar and co. tonight, we were just a group of friends. It was times like these that made me feel comfortable and confident, but it was all too soon over.

At eleven-eleven exactly Aang, who'd been drowsing against the couch, stood bolt upright as though he was being pulled by a string.

"Aang?" Katara asked, and the rest of us blinked away our contentment to look. "Are you okay?" She put out a hand to touch his arm and drew it away quickly when something shocked her.

Aang started rotating with his feet off the ground, his eyes turning pitch black. When he opened his mouth to speak, it was like a black hole opening in his face.

"I've tried playing nice," he said, and his voice was meshed with a really creepy little girl's. Toph crushed my hand in her grip. "Hear me, friends. It is war. You will not know the end until I deal it to you." Aang turned to Katara, and his arm slowly lifted until he was pointing right at her. "The best for last, best friend. I am coming for you."

As Aang's insides returned to their natural color he collapsed, completely out. He never was like this with his Avatar transformations; in seconds we swarmed him and laid him on the couch, and Zuko's Uncle Iroh was forcing some herbal concoction down his throat. In a minute or two he coughed and winced, smacking his lips.

"Ugh," he grunted, "that was awful. What happened? I feel like I'm about to hurl."

"You have brushed with a very evil spirit," Iroh said, laying a damp cloth over Aang's forehead to mop up the sweat that beaded there.

"Aeng possessed you," Katara said in a small voice. Aang's eyes widened.

"What did I do?"

"Nothing," I assured him. "You were just talking really creepy."

"According to her, she's waging war on us now," Zuko piped up.

"We don't know when or where she's going to hit us," Toph added, "but one thing's for sure; she's going to try to knock off Katara before she attacks us all."

Katara's eyes steeled. I knew that look all too well. And so did Aang, apparently, because he reached out for her and managed to grasp her hand (she knelt down by his side, of course, like they'd never even had a fight in the first place).

"Do not," he said deliberately, "go looking for her. You can't win that fight."

"So what am I supposed to do?" she asked. "Just wait around for her to kill me?"

"No," Aang shook his head, "you're sticking with me until she makes her move. Every minute of the day we can, every night if you're dad's okay with it." He became a little bashful. "I know you're not happy with me, but—"

"Forget about it," she shook her head, turning the rag over on his forehead. "I get it."

"You do?" Aang asked hopefully, and I made a pukey noise in Toph's ear. She grinned.

"Yeah," Katara blushed, pushing her bangs behind her ear. "I stand by what I said, but at least we know it'll be over soon, right?"

Aang grinned so widely it was hard to believe he was recovering from a possession.

* * *

><p>"So I have a question," I said on the way back home. Katara and Aang were both in the backseat as I was dropping off Toph. "Toph and Zuko both got snazzy body adornments when they got attacked. Where's my souvenir?"<p>

"I think it's because their spirituality is stronger than yours, Sokka," Aang said. "Think about it. When Aeng attacked you directly, did you have a vision of her?"

"No," I shook my head. "I just saw…." I fell silent, trying to work through it. That day I'd seen Yue, but I thought it was just a figment of my half-dead imagination.

"Yue?" Aang guessed. "I know most people think it's just rumors, but Yue really did become the moon spirit when she left. After she…passed, did you see her again?"

"Yeah. Why?" I asked, not getting where he was going with this.

"She probably already left her mark," Aang said simply. "It might not show up like Zuko's hair or Toph's…um…yeah, but it's there. She's already protecting you. Toph and Zuko, on the other hand, saw the Earth and Fire spirits because they're benders and they're both the greatest masters of their time." Toph made a little bow, grinning. "The thing is, though, if I hadn't been there to help channel the energy into the real world, neither one of them would have been able to make it. Since Yue actually walked the real world before giving her life back to the moon and becoming the new spirit, her energy already exists in you. Make sense?"

"Um…sure," I shrugged, putting the car in park and opening the door for Toph. I held her hand as I walked her to her front door.

"So, about this afternoon…" I said, and she laughed, pulling me down to her level and kissing me.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Sokka," she winked, and disappeared into her house. I whistled all the way back to my car.

"Ooh, what happened this afternoon?" Aang asked, wiggling his eyebrows, and I flicked his forehead so he sat back down.

"None of your business, airhead," I replied, driving away from the house.

Katara whispered something in the backseat to Aang that made my ears go red, and I stomped on the brakes and turned around to set them straight.

"For the record," I hissed, "_nothing. Happened._" I grinned as I got an idea. "Besides some nice hot lip action, which you two wouldn't know anything about."

"Says who?" Katara asked innocently, which made me promptly turn around and keep driving as they laughed at me.

I really hated it when she pulled the "I'm your baby sister and you don't want to know" card.

* * *

><p>AN: Alrighty, folks, here's today's low-down:

Now you know why Sokka doesn't get a snazzy body tattoo or something. Also, this chapter brought to you by SOKKA ANGST. Poor kid.

...I have nothing else to say about this. XD


	22. Chapter 21: Katara

Chapter Twenty-One

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Toph

U ok twikneltoes?

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Aang

Not rly. freakin out.

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Toph

Itll be ok.

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Aang

U don't know that

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Toph

Do 2. ur not just any avtr. ur aang gyatso the best 1 ever so u bettr start acting liek it i didnt train u 4 nuthin

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Aang

I guess

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Toph

DONT GIMME THAT WISHY WASHY CRUD SAY IT LIKE U MEAN IT

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Aang

Im the best avatar ever

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Toph

That's rite keep telling urself that and u will be FINE

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Toph

Ps if i hear u douting urself agin ill beat ur skiny airbender butt so hard even ur anti will be feelin it. capeesh?

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Aang

Yah sure whatever

* * *

><p>Katara's Playlist<p>

Song: _Real World_

Artist: _The All-American Rejects_

* * *

><p>Aang was worried, and we all knew it. For one, he wouldn't shave; not saying I didn't like it, but it was still a little disconcerting to see him not taking care of himself. Dad was cool with Aang basically living at our house (though the winks he kept shooting my way were downright embarrassing); he was helping me study for finals, after all.<p>

The last day of school went out with a bang; for kicks the Four Nations High Players put on a special encore show of their spring musical for free. I'm kind of a grudge holder, but I have to admit, Azula blew me away with her performance. But even the show couldn't distract Aang; I kept glancing over at him, and he had the same troubled expression the entire show. Once it was over Toph nudged me in the side.

"We need to get him out of here," she whispered. "Sokka and Zuko are standing by outside with passes to Water World. You in?"

"If it'll make him feel better, I'm up for anything," I whispered back, then put my hand on Aang's shoulder. He flinched and looked at me.

"Yeah? What? What I miss? Is anything wrong?" he asked rapidly. I almost laughed.

"Chill out, Twinkletoes," Toph grinned. "Let's get out of here, okay?"

"Sure," he shrugged, following behind me and Toph. Zuko and Sokka stood outside the doors, Sokka with his hands innocently behind his back. He winked at me as we walked outside. Once Aang cleared the doors Sokka and Zuko jumped him, tying a hot pink bandana over his eyes.

"Come vith us if you vant to live," Sokka said mechanically. Zuko, Toph, and I laughed, but Aang's expression didn't change.

"Come on, guys, stop messing around," he grumbled, and went to take the blindfold off. To stop him Sokka and Zuko picked him up and hoisted him on their shoulders, and me and Toph both started laughing harder, following them to Aang's van (which I'd gotten the keys to earlier). He kicked and struggled the entire way, which Sokka cheerfully ignored and Zuko handled like a champ (he got kicked in the head a couple of times). We had him tucked into the middle bench between Toph and Sokka, me in the driver's seat and Zuko in the passenger side, before he finally got free, ripping the blindfold off.

"What is _wrong_ with you guys?" he exploded, and the light mood immediately dissipated. "We're _all_ in danger, and all you people can think of is—is _goofing off!_"

"Here's a better question," Toph said, and I winced, "what's wrong with _you_? You've been moping around for the past week! You're not letting anybody even attempt to make you smile, you're being more PMS-y than Katara at that time of the month, and you're brooding like you're freakin' Batman!"

"For the record," I whispered to Zuko, "I resent that comment." He snorted.

"In case you missed it," Aang retorted, "_I have a murderous evil twin who has tried to kill all of you!_ She's going to strike at least one more time, and _I don't know what to do!_ I have absolutely nothing! I'm drawing a blank! I'm freaking out, because I don't want to lose any of you guys because I couldn't figure this out!"

I frowned and pulled over into a K-Mart parking lot as Aang kept ranting about how we were "irresponsible" and how we needed to "get our heads in the game" and crap like that. He didn't stop until I opened the van door, pulled him out by his shirt collar, and slapped him across the face. It probably didn't hurt him as much as it sounded like it did, but it shut him up (and everyone else in the car, who was arguing back with him).

"We don't want to lose you, either," I said gently as he stared at me, shell-shocked. "You're stressed. You're unsure of yourself. We get that. But when you stop being yourself, you stop being the Avatar who can face anything." I took his hands in mine. "We're going to get through this, all of us together."

"Who was the dude who faced a bajillion spirits this semester?" Toph said, jumping out of the van and punching Aang's arm. He looked down at her, surprised.

"Um…me?" He voiced it like it was a question.

"And who was the guy who pretty much saved our butts time and time again?" Sokka added, punching his other arm.

"Me," Aang replied, more confident.

"Who was the guy who faced down my dad and stopped him for good?" Zuko clapped him on the shoulder, and Aang's old smile began creeping onto his face.

"I did."

"And who's going to be the guy who faces the biggest challenge any Avatar's ever had to face and beat it?" I asked, and he looked around him at the rest of his friends. At the encouraging smiles, he puffed out his chest.

"I am!" he grinned, and we cheered.

"But first," Sokka announced, "we must travel to the land of Water World and conquer the water slides! What say you?"

"I say charge!" Aang bellowed, and within seconds we were all packed back into the car (Aang driving this time) and were on our way to the beachside water park.

* * *

><p>"Cowabunga!" Sokka whooped as he came down the Twisty Slide, creating a fantastic splash as he cannonballed into Aang's back and the two of them disappeared under the water. Aang came up coughing and laughing so hard he could hardly breathe. Sokka floated to the surface and sighed contentedly.<p>

"This is the life, huh?" he said happily. "No school, lots of sun, a whole summer full of absolutely nothing ahead of us…"

"Sounds awesome," Toph sighed. Zuko floated by on an inner tube, his sunglasses in place and his arms behind his head, studiously ignoring the gaggle of teenage girls on the other side of the wavepool who kept trying to get his attention.

"Whoa," Sokka jumped, "Aang, not cool, bro."

"What?" Aang asked, puzzled.

"Don't play dumb, something just brushed my leg all weird," Sokka retorted. "Look, sorry about crashing into you—"

"Yikes!" Toph yelped, leaping out of the water a little. "What was that?"

"Seriously, that's not—geez," Aang flinched, searching the water. "What the crap—?"

I felt something circle my legs twice and shivered; suddenly I felt myself being pulled down, and something strong and fluid encircled my knees. I was swallowing water before I had the time to think, thrashing and panicking. The wave pool only came to my waist, but now it felt like it was an ocean, and the surface was getting farther and farther away. I looked down and saw something that made me scream (or I would have, if water hadn't filled my mouth again).

Aeng had her arms wrapped around my legs, her face looking up at me with the same expression she always seemed to have. She spoke, and weirdly I found I could hear her.

"We can be together forever now, best friend," she murmured. "Only the best for you."

I tried swimming for the surface, pumping my arms; when that didn't work I waterbended a bubble around my head so I could catch my breath. She frowned.

"I tried to be nice," she said, her voice so innocent it would've been hard to believe she was trying to kill me if I wasn't seconds from drowning. "I really did. This is your fault. You brought it on yourself."

I felt my bubble shrinking, but my arms wouldn't move to keep it up. I couldn't control my body at all; it was rigid, like some other power was wrestling control away from me. I knew this feeling. I'd felt it once before, from a crazy old lady who taught me about the darkness in my soul. Without my consent my arms were lowered to my sides, and my entire body went stiff and straight as a board. I started drifting, my vision going dark. It would hurt when I drowned, when I couldn't keep the water out of my nose and mouth anymore. My lungs felt like exploding. I opened my eyes and Aeng's face floated in front of mine, a smile I loved on her counterpart but definitely not on her grinned out at me.

My vision went black as my mouth opened and water rushed in. Strangely enough, I didn't feel anything. I opened my eyes again and saw that I wasn't even under water. Aeng was there, though, dripping wet and looking at me, puzzled.

"Be at ease, child," I heard a comforting, soft voice, "for she cannot hurt you here." Next to me a tall, beautiful woman with the palest skin I'd ever seen and dark hair materialized. She was robed in deep blue, a yang symbol clasping it at her shoulder. She smiled at me, and I smiled back, if more uncertainly.

I felt my limbs stiffening again, and Aeng was suddenly frozen as the woman stretched her hand out to her.

"Though your power is great, Anti Aeng, still you cannot defeat me here," the woman said gently. "Go. You have lost this battle."

The ice shuddered as Aeng's expression finally changed. She was furious, her mouth a tight line and her eyes dark. The ice imprisoning her shattered, and she was gone. It was just me and the strange woman who saved me.

"You look well, Katara," she said warmly.

"Who are you?" I asked, though I knew I should have been thanking her for saving my life.

"I am known by many names," she replied. "You may call me Yang."

The ocean spirit. I should have known. I made to bow, but Yang put her hand under my chin.

"You are in a grave position, child," she said. "You are on a crossroads. You may either return with me, or you may remain in the world. The Avatar is most impatient," she chuckled. "He is doing all he can, but without me, he cannot save you."

So it was a choice between living and dying. To most people it would be easy to say "I want to live." Most people didn't have a mother they missed more than anything. Sure, there were things back home I wanted to do, but, I thought, it might be worth giving them all up if I could be with my mom again. Maybe I could finally get that closure I needed. Sure, people would miss me, but they'd be fine.

"I think you must hear something before you make your decision," Yang said gently. All at once I heard Aang's voice echoing around me.

_"No, no,_ no_!_ _Don't you dare do this to me! Don't you freaking_ dare! _Come on, Katara, breathe! Breathe! I can't do this without you! Tui, La, anybody, help me, please! Please not her, anybody but her!"_

"Such are the cries of his heart," Yang said quietly, and I dried my eyes. Aang. My best friend. More than a best friend. How could I forget?

_"Not again. Not my sister. Why her? Why did it have to be her?"_

Sokka. My eyes welled again.

"It is your choice," she said, "and I shall do whatever you decide."

I knew I didn't have long. Aang and Sokka's muted screams rang in my mind, and something my mom once told me came to mind.

_"Life is an adventure, sweetheart, but you don't discover that by hiding away all day. You discover that by going out and living it. So promise me you'll have a great adventure, something to tell your little girl and your granddaughters, okay?"_

"Life is an adventure," I said slowly. "I'm not done yet."

"Wise choice," Yang smiled, putting her hand on my cheek. Aang's calmer voice fused with hers as she began to speak. "Your mother spoke wisely when she gave you that counsel. Not many people get such second chances, as you are given. Do not forget that while this life is your own, you are not the only person who benefits from it. Remember this, and live."

I found myself blinking in the sunlight with Aang leaning over me. I was lying on the concrete next to the wave pool, gasping for breath.

I heard Sokka swearing in a steady stream, but Aang remained silent. I smiled weakly.

"Hey, you," I said around a sore throat. He made a strangled sort of giggle and put his hand on my cheek, right where Yang did, raising my head up a little. He studied my face like he'd never seen me before. Just like at the beach, he started drifting closer, and, unlike the beach, I wasn't just content to let him. I sat up on my elbows to lessen the space.

Screaming erupted behind him, and he turned around. In the middle of the wave pool something dark was rising as the water steamed and bubbled. People were panicking, running back against the fence, and Aang leapt to his feet, helping me to mine.

Aeng stood on the roiling surface of the water, her hair whipping around like wind-tossed snakes. Her eyes were jet-black; not glowing, exactly, more like sucking the light into their depths and making them seem more prominent. Beside me, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Aang's tattoo on his arm start glowing.

"Hello," she said softly. "Hello, traitors."

With no more ado Aang launched himself at Aeng. The rest of us could do nothing but watch helplessly on the sidelines.

"What's happening?" Toph hissed, and Sokka put his arms around her and me.

"I think it's a final showdown," he murmured. I watched the two of them fight, trading blows so gracefully they could have been dancing. They mirrored each other exactly.

"We've got to get everyone out of here," Zuko said as a wayward spike of ice from Aang lodged itself through the slide. As we split off in opposite directions to evacuate the park as best we could I looked back. The expression on Aang's face…it was scary. It was always scary when he was like this.

"Come on, Aang," I murmured, then ran off to help the others.

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><p>AN: I...have very little to say about this chapter other than that I like it. Yang is another one of those spirits from my brain; I thought, to mirror Yue, she'd have pale skin and dark hair. I like the fact that Katara is probably the only one who seriously has to consider if she wants to live or not. I dunno, I just...like this chapter.

One more chapter and then the epilogue, ladies and gents.


	23. Chapter 22: Aang

Chapter Twenty-Two

**Aang Gyatso** _The End._

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><p>Aang's Playlist<p>

Song: _Waiting for the End_

Artist: _Linkin Park_

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><p>How can you fight when you know everything is ending? How can you go on, knowing that even as you push and push and push the enemy is going to win anyway?<p>

At first, I fought Aeng for vengeance. Nobody tried to kill my girl—my _friends_—and got away with it. I had no thought of the significance of what I was doing, no thought but to destroy her. I was angry, murderous. I wasn't at my A-game. There was blood rushing in my ears, red staining the edges of everything I saw. She avoided me with ease, danced around like she was toying with me. No bending. Just fists.

"You're not doing very well," she said softly, so quietly I could hardly hear her. "You are not the Avatar I expected." I felt something press at my windpipe, but I was as strong as she was, and she couldn't hold me under her perverse bending for long. I snatched for her hair, but she whipped around behind me, going back-to-back and attempting to kick my legs out from under me. I somersaulted over her, only to have her catch me right in the stomach mid-air. I crashed with a grunt into the water, only to realize it was now ice as Aeng stepped towards me. I wasn't fast enough, and her hand grasped me around the throat, pulling me up on my feet, on my tiptoes. Her filthy fingernails dug into my skin. After a few seconds I could feel a warm trickle of blood running from a couple of her fingerholds.

"Anger," she said softly. "Rage. Fear. Hate. Love." Her hand contracted further. "Why was it you who was chosen to feel all such emotions and not me? Was I not good enough? Tell me what it is that chose you, Aang."

"I can't," I gurgled, taking hold of her wrist and trying to loosen her grip. "I had no control over what happened. I just…_am_."

"I suppose it is reasonable," she said, her voice still as quiet as could be. "If you do not know, I do not know. We are alike, you see. Twins. Brother and sister."

"We," I panted, "are nothing alike." I slammed both of my feet into her chest, and she dropped me, rolling to the ice and coughing.

I stood over her and pulled her up by her hair. Unexpectedly her fist crashed into my throat, and we both fell to our knees, coughing and wheezing.

"You…see?" she gasped. "You are not strong. You are too full of emotion."

I understood what she was saying, finally, at long last. She was wiping the floor with me right now. No more. There was only one way I was going to beat her, and as I looked at her, she locked eyes with me and we both understood.

This went far beyond what Aang the man felt Aeng the woman-spirit had done to him. This went back to the fight that had been waging between us since before our birth, since the beginning of time. And now the time came to face each other as equals once more.

I sat up, sitting and assuming my meditative pose. Aeng did likewise, breathing in when I did. I felt the glow of power stirring, and with my spirit-eyes I saw Aeng start glowing black where I was white. I also noticed her thin, straggly arrows seemed to be emitting the strange blackness, as well.

Perhaps in the physical world this final duel looked boring, but in the Spirit World (or, more accurately, in Limbo), it was a very different story. The normally serene, white setting of Limbo was all turmoil and chaos, the white energy struggling and twisting and roiling with black energy. Aeng stood before me, no longer the girl with my face, but a being of pure black energy, her eyes glowing scarlet out of the depths of her twisting form. I knew myself to be no longer Aang. I forgot the name as soon as I thought it. I was the Avatar. I was Good.

My mortal enemy reared her head, her twisting strands of darkness writhing around her. She lifted her hand and I felt the small tugs of minor demons and creatures of evil snapping at my legs. I banished them with a thought. Her pawns could have no hold on me. I waved my own hand forward, and an old familiar friend twisted itself around her, snapping at her face. She struggled with the dragon for a moment, but it, too, dissipated.

From then on it was merely Evil and I, engaging in our eternal rhetoric. For every fiery dart that issued from her being, there was a shield in my hand to deflect them. For every spear of light of mine, she expanded to absorb it. As we fought our forms became purer, more refined. She was not merely a she any more than I was merely a he. We were simply beings.

"Why is it always you, Brother," Evil asked, "who is rewarded beyond compare? Why was it you who was chosen?"

"Because, Brother, I never sought my own glory," I replied. "You, who could have been a powerful force for the side of Light, chose your lot at the beginning of all things. Your fight in this life is doomed for failure."

"As it must always be," Evil consented. "He Who Made All Things declares it to be so, but those who are mine must remain with me forevermore. Is this not so? Is this not accomplishment in itself?"

"It is," I rumbled, "and it is my duty to be sure of your companions being few in your misery." I conjured a flaming sword. "And now, my Brother, we may speak no more. My victory is at hand."

"I have won a victory such as this before," Evil gathered its own sword, "and I shall not fear what is to come until the end of days. You are mine."

With no words left to speak we clashed, black fire against white. We used no formal rules of swordplay, such as my mortal mind could understand, but a higher rule, a rule of eternal struggle, such as my spirit knew. For Evil's every strike I was there to block. For my every stab Evil parried.

All at once we stabbed each other in the heart, and suddenly I was Aang and she was Aeng. She looked at me, wide-eyed, as the white sword quivered within her. The black sword rose out of my own chest, and I felt its effects as oily blackness seeped into me. Across from me Aeng's black essence began to have some of my brightness seep across, until one eye was bright white and one darkest black. I knew the same to be happening to me.

"I see everything," Aeng said in awe, and I could only nod. The greater understanding of what had just happened was mostly lost on my mortal mind, but I understood enough of the truth to be able to look at Aeng with no small degree of pity.

"I understand," she said, looking at me. "I submit. There will come a time for you and I to face each other again, but not in this life. In this life, I am content." She held out her hand. "Brother."

"Sister," I returned, taking her hand. She smiled, a true smile. She seemed to dissolve, melting into me as my eyes closed and everything seemed to fade. I was aware of nothing and everything as my spirit returned to my body. I could hear the cries of seagulls in the distance, but couldn't feel the support of the ice under my body. I heard the waves crashing against the shore, but not the voices belonging to the hands that clasped my arms, my shoulders, my head, my legs. I was content to let my eyes remain shut.

I drifted in and out like this for a while; I didn't know the exact time until I decided I'd rested long enough and opened my eyes. The sun was setting on a beach scene, my friends crowded around me and trying to look busy. Sokka strummed his guitar, Toph drew circles in the sand, Zuko hummed along with the song. Katara I couldn't see, but I could feel her nearby.

"Hey, guys," I said, my voice a little rough from getting choked and then punched in the neck (and from going through an intense spiritual experience, but why bring that up just now and kill the mood?). "What's up?"

For a full ten seconds nobody reacted, and I though they hadn't heard me. They had to have; they were all looking at me like I was a ghost or something.

"Next time, Aang," Sokka said, putting aside his guitar, "I would really rather you tell us when you're not dead."

"What's the fun in that?" I rasped, grinning, and everything exploded. A dogpile of sorts formed, everyone wanting to get their hands on me and get the details of what went down. I still didn't see Katara anywhere. Toph rubbed the top of my head, and I was utterly surprised to find that I could feel the calluses of her hand.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, baldy," she said cheerfully, and I shoved Sokka off me to feel at my head. It was true; I didn't have any hair left. I felt like panicking until I looked at my hands and saw the blue arrows on the backs, and the arrows on the tops of my feet. Then I understood.

"Nice tats," Zuko grinned, putting his hand on my forehead. "They look good."

Sokka got a turn rubbing my head, and I stood up on shaky legs.

"Where's Katara?" I asked. Zuko jabbed his thumb in the direction of the ocean, and I saw her standing on the sandbar a good few yards' wade into the water. I made my way there, only stumbling when the sand shifted unexpectedly beneath me. She heard me coming, and turned around. She was smiling, her eyes filled with tears.

"You're bald," she said, and I started panicking again.

"Is it bad?" I asked, and she stroked the top of my dome.

"It suits you," she said. There were so many, many things I wanted to say to her, but for the life of me I couldn't quite remember what they were as the fiery sky reflected in her eyes. I reached desperately for any of the speeches I'd prepared for such a moment, and sighed.

"Screw it," I said, and with no further ado kissed her. She was laughing as she pulled back, her arms around my neck and the ocean lapping at our ankles playfully.

"It's over, isn't it?" she asked, and I nodded fervently.

"She's gone," I said, and turned my head to see the others walking out to meet us. I raised my voice. "She's not coming back to hurt any of us."

"What did I tell you?" Toph smiled. "You got this."

I nodded, putting my hand around Katara's waist and grinning like no tomorrow was coming.

"It's over."

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><p>AN: Behold: the most melodramatic chapter you will ever read. I am so sorry.

Just the epilogue and this excellent adventure will be done.


	24. Epilogue

Epilogue

There you go, kids. That's the story, and there ain't no more.

If you're wondering where the tattoos came from, they formed when Aeng and I fused. Her full-body air tattoos (or scars, or whatever you want to call them) transferred to me, and became symbols of goodness and purity. The tattoo on my shoulder disappeared. As freaky as it was at first, I like it. It makes me feel more legitimate, you know?

I didn't stay bald, of course; I loved having Katara rub her hands through my hair too much to not want her to do it again. That summer was one of the best I can remember having. It seemed every day Katara and I were doing something together. Her favorite spot for me to kiss besides her mouth? The small blue circle with wavy lines in it just before her hair line, right behind her ear. It was a few degrees cooler than the rest of her at all times.

Zuko left for college the end of July, when we all felt summer coming to an end. The relationship with his father didn't improve any time those few months, but ours with Azula's did; once assured she wasn't going to kill us all we found her to be a good friend and a fun partner in mischief-making. Haru and Ty Lee eloped over the summer; as far as I know, they're happy. Ty Lee's mom isn't, but she's making up for it by having a big white wedding in December. She asked Suki and Katara if they would be bridesmaids. Mai is the maid of honor, but she would only agree to it if she got to wear combat boots with her dress. They're working it out.

Sokka started community college and the rest of us started high school, Katara her senior year and me and Toph our junior. Whatever would happen in the future, so long as we all stuck together, it was nothing we couldn't handle.

So long, folks. I'm off to pick up my girlfriend and see what today has in store. Catch you on the flip side.

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><p>AN: The end, folks. Thank yo for reading, you guys, and I'm sorry it's taken so long to gt the rest out to you guys.

If you're looking for another AU to sat your appetite, I highly recommend What I Learned at SRU by destiny-smasher. It is truly excellent and beautiful - and almost done! Seriously, give it a chance. It's amazing, much better than my humble attempt. You can find it here on FFN or on his page on deviantART. Just google it and see what comes up.

Take care, y'all!


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